I can’t believe that our youngest daughter, Mary Anne, is graduating today! We were put on notice about a month ago and since then, we have been reminded so often by both our daughter and the school. So as I write, my wife and I are preparing for a big graduation! What’s interesting though, is that she is graduating from 6th grade!

Well,if you think that, that is funny, wait until you hear of my recent encounter.  I was talking to a friend the other day who was kind of inviting me to his son’s graduation. Since I have recently purposed in my heart to give my time to the community events, I was inclined to accept the invitation, assuming the father was serious about it. As a proud father, he spoke of all that goes with graduation ceremony-graduation gown, the party, the money he paid and the speaker, who had been invited all the way from Florida.  Before he was even done, I found myself laughing so hard,of course with tears flowing down my cheeks. Why so? Because his son was graduating from pre-school.

I find this graduation thing very interesting indeed! Come to think about it,it has a very vital lesson to both the parents and the graduates themselves. The idea behind it is to not only congratulate the graduates for the job well done, but also to remind them to start preparing for the next level. The underlying message is that the graduates are expected to behave differently. This will mean not only studying hard but also changing their study habits. And because of that,I have come to buy the concept.

Even more important, this graduation thing has taught me very valuable lessons. In every single day, I come across and do gladly interact with people from all cultures. In my interaction, I have found the following disturbing trend:

1.Grown ups who have yet to graduate from childhood behavior
2.Married men/women who still act as if they are in their 20’s
3.Teachers who behave like students
4.Immigrants who have been in this country for many years and yet act as if they came from their native countries just the other day
5.Christians who have yet to graduate from the world
6.Leaders who act as followers
7.Drivers who need to go back to driving school
8.Couples who are still in square A

So, have I graduated from all the above? Far from it. And that is why I keep on attending these graduations, just to remind myself of the need to daily examine my attitude and way of doing things to see if at all it corresponds to who I am expected to be. How about you my friend?

Just a thought

Pr Birai 612-386-4608
www.themaranathasdachurch.org
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 @ 8:15 AM

– – –
Date:  Wed, 4 Jun 2008 06:24:29 -0700 (PDT)
From:  Absalom Birai
Subject:  Re: My daughter is graduating today!