Monthly Archives: May 2009

On the occasion of a graduation from school

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Michael and his parents graduate from college!

Michael and his parents graduate from college!

I was invited to attend a college graduation. While I hadn’t planned on it, I learned a couple of things at the graduation.

Most commencement exercises offer a rare public display of just how distinctly the view of life contrasts with that of Jesus Christ.

I listened to three inspiring speeches. One esteemed mankind’s efforts as a means to significance. The next outlined a guaranteed formula for individual achievement. Another promoted humanity’s intellectual superiority. While each speech was highly motivational, I wondered how many steps of the recessional it took before these pearls of wisdom fell out the other ear.

The graduation also made me realize I have no brilliant (or, for that matter, ordinary) counsel with which to encourage a graduate.

But there was a word from God that might appropriately inspire and motivate. It was here that I noticed how clearly His wisdom contrasted with that of the commencement speakers. The verse is 3 John 4.

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

John affirms his readers’ “walking [living their lives] in the truth” as his greatest joy. Surely, that same joy can be shared by all Christians as the faith of those with whom we regularly walk alongside is observed.

As believers we know that truth is not arrived “at by rational contemplation or observance of nature,” but is embodied in Jesus Christ and the Gospel message about Him.

A result of “walking in truth” is not others observing significance in myself or my work, even work done on behalf of others. A result of “walking in truth” is “no greater joy.” In other words, the manner of my life and the way you live your life especially benefits those who walk in the same way.

The means to “walking in truth” is not intellectual superiority. The way to “truth” comes from having embraced, believed in, or welcomed with open arms something outside yourself (or phrased another way, Someone you can’t control).

Happy Mother's Day

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Happy Mother’s Day! The history of Mother’s Day begins earlier than Julia Ward Howe (1872) or Anna Jarvis and President Wilson’s 1914 national proclamation for observance in the Unites States. In the country of Greece, Mother’s Day (February 2) has long been associated with the Eastern Orthodox Church feast day that commemorates when Jesus was presented at the Temple because their belief is that it was the “Mother of God” who brought him to the Temple. The ancient Romans developed a custom of giving gifts to mothers on a day (“Matronalia”) dedicated to the veneration of Juno (the goddess of protection and counsel). Prior to the Romans, ancient Greeks in Asia Minor developed a kind of mother worship, with Cybele (mother of Greek deities) as the central figure. I am not aware (at this time) whether even earlier civilizations, including Israel during the Bible times, had a special holiday for all moms, with one exception. Adam named his wife “Eve” and Moses carefully notes why, “because she was the mother of all living.” I like that our “Mother’s Day” is not in conjunction with any other celebration or a ruse to honor some man-made deity. Our custom is one day in the year to remember (and express) there isn’t one day in the year that Mothers aren’t special. Happy Mother’s Day!