We’re right in the middle of all the celebrations for commencement. Tonight was the baccalaureate service, and it was truly wonderful. Sarah Walker offered a wonderful take on it in her blog tonight, and I affirm her comments here by reference!

Everything is striking me very deeply in these times. The part of the service that grabbed me was the prayers of the people. When they are done well, they are often my favorite part of the service, and tonight was one of those times. I don’t remember how it all went, but there was a lot about beginnings and endings, and it wasn’t some trite anecdote about commencement being a beginning that you’ve heard at two hundred high school graduations. These beginnings and endings seemed more real than they have before as Mark Douglas prayed. Maybe it was in the growth I can see in myself over the last three years — but maybe it was actually in the ways in which I see that I have also stayed the same.

I don’t really understand it, but can we understand it? I don’t think I can really wish for that real understanding, but as the ending comes extremely near, lots is coming together as it never has before. Tonight I heard “alpha” and “omega” in an entirely new way, and that was unsettling — but yet comforting. I’ll have to quote Sarah, for she is more eloquent than I could imagine to be tonight:

All I needed was to hear it. Hear the promise. I needed the reminder. I have the faith. I believe the promises. I just needed to hear them. And I needed the rest of the service too. It reminded me of who I am and Whose I am. It reminded me of what is important and in Whom I place my trust and my life. It reminded me of how to live. 

It feels very strange to say it, but I’m now entering my final week at seminary and in Atlanta. It is a strange time, and I’ve become very emotional all of the sudden.

• At church this morning, I nearly lost it when one of my fellow seminary students offered the prayer of thanksgiving, as it was his last Sunday. I’ll be back for one last Sunday at Central, and I can’t imagine what kind of condition I’ll be in then!
• After church, I started thinking about what is next in the church world for me. Where will I go to church while I look for a job? None of the immediate options at my parents’ house are particularly appealing, so I’m trying to think outside the box a bit. Perhaps I can find someplace life-giving for that brief period.
• I’m starting to have my final chances to visit with all sorts of friends around here. We’ll certainly be running into one another over the course of the next week, but intentional time together is quickly disappearing.
• Three of us went out to see The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy tonight. I kinda feel like Arthur Dent sometimes, with so much of the world caving in around me, constantly looking for what I can hold on to as everything around me changes. Now if I can just figure out exactly what my “fish” would be if I were to sing “So Long and Thanks for All the Fish”!
• In general, everything just feels really strange. It is strange to see packed boxes accumulating in the room, empty bookshelves where the books have been for three years, and junk I should have thrown away years ago piling up in the trash can. I’m hopeful that it will all get done, but it hasn’t happened yet!

There’s much to be done, but I don’t feel like doing any of it anymore! Oh well… it will happen somehow.