To the Graduate

 

(This article is dedicated to the graduate. I wish to use five verses of a poem and make comment between each verse, in the sincere hope that something said may a help to each of you in the days that lie in the future.)

—1—

The years have quickly slipped away,

you pause now at the open door, You linger, but you cannot stay -

my dear, you are a child no more But graduation time is good - a

time to go forth seeking truth,

Stepping into adulthood, yet clinging

to the dreams of youth.

COMMENT Someone has said, "Time and tide wait for no man." Those who remain of my high school graduation class of 1936 back in Frederick, Oklahoma, will be having a reunion this month. I will be away in meetings and will not be there in person, only in memory. Many have been the times since that red-letter day in my life when I have wished somehow I could turn time back and regain lost opportunities or relive past experiences. Then I have wished there was some way to even cause time to stand still for awhile to allow me to accomplish things I did not feel time would permit me to accomplish otherwise. However, the clock on the wall ticks on; time is passing and will not wait. Therefore, it is extremely necessary that you make the very best use of each passing moment. Let no idleness be found in your life. Keep play and entertainment to the bare minimum. Time is one of God's most precious gifts to you. Use it wisely and discreetly, remembering you must give an account for the way you use or misuse it at the judgment.

"You are a child no more." Paul said, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things" (1 Cor. 13:11). Grow up! Be mature! Act your age! You are not a child anymore. Always, as the poem says, "cling to the dreams of youth." Remain young at heart but let your conversation, your actions, your priorities be that of a well-rounded, mature adult

—2—

Yearning to achieve a name - but to this I must confess,

I do not wish you wealth and fame,

only peace and happiness.

 Happiness in all you do, peace with

God and man,

Doing work you love to do, doing it the best you can.

COMMENT: Though it would bring my heart great joy to someday hear that some of you did achieve a prominent place in life, having your name as a household word on the tongues. of millions (so long as you achieved it honestly and without compromise of your convictions), however, a big name should not be your goal, only a "good" name. "A GOOD NAME is rather to be chosen than great riches" (Prov. 22:1).

Babe Ruth was perhaps the world's most famous ever baseball player. One day a friend said to him, "Babe, you have been entertained by, and introduced to, the biggest names in the world kings, queens, presidents, and others. Of all the ones you have ever met, which do you consider the greatest?" Mr. Ruth said, "Most of the people who have really counted in my life were not famous. Nobody ever heard of them, except those who loved them most. I knew an old minister once. His hair was white, his face shone... I have written my name on thousands of baseballs in my life. That old minister only wrote his name on a few simple hearts. How I envy him! Because he was not trying to please his own immortal soul, fame never came to him. I am listed as a famous 'home-run hitter,' yet, beside that obscure minister, who always was so good and wise, I never got to first base."

Several years ago Dag Hammerschold was the general secretary of the United Nations. He was a good man, highly respected. He was killed in a mysterious plane crash in Europe, and in the flyleaf of his Bible someone had written, "When you came into the world, everyone rejoiced; there was none who wept. May your life so be lived that when the time comes for you to leave this life, the same may be true. All shall have reason to rejoice, none shall have reason to weep."

—3—

Think not your efforts are in vain - adversity but makes us grow.

One must seek a higher plane, to view the grandeur below.

Unto thy ownself be true - these are words by which to live,

Being just in all you do, willing to forget, to forgive.

COMMENT: There will be many times when the winds of adversity will howl and beat down upon you. It is during those times that your soul will find opportunity to send its roots down further to a better hold. There is a song which says:

Lord, I thank you for the valley I walked through today,

The deeper the valley, the more I learned to pray.

Yes, adversities will come; but they will affect you only as you allow them to do so.

—4—

For peace is not with money bought,

 nor happiness acquired with fame,

He with loneliness is fraught, who

strives but to exalt his name.

Always be sincere and true, ever

searching for the right

But honest in whate're you do

for in honesty there is might.

COMMENT: The world has a perverted view of success. It is usually thought that this is necessary for happiness, but this is not always true. Success will mean the ability to buy nice clothes; but it is not-the clothes that make the man, it is the man in the clothes that counts. Success may mean a fine home on a lakeside; but it is' not the home that counts but what the man in that home is. Happiness is not found in things. The road to happiness is the same today as given by Jesus 1900 years ago in His Sermon on the Mount. In the beatitudes He lays down the foundation for happiness. He teaches that happiness is not found in what we have but in what we are.

Happiness does not depend on outward circumstances. It depends on inward harmony with God. It is only found in an evenly balanced and properly adjusted soul.

Society is filled with the materialistic view that fine cars, homes, clothes, stocks, and bonds are the true marks of success and happiness. People are weighted down by the consideration of the present because they live by sense rather than by faith. Human thinking always prefers the present to the future. Look out for the present surely; however, remember there is a future coming too.

—5—

Greet all with a friendly smile,

extend a hand to those in need.

Adhere to principles worthwhile,

and let kindness be your creed.

Yes, life comprises more than gold -

see the sunshine and the flowers,

Watch as future years unfold, into

golden days and hours;

Grasp them ere they pass you by,

plan to use each precious minute,

You'll discover if you try,

peace and happiness within it.

COMMENT: Much of the happiness in life will be found as you live your life for others. John Wesley had a motto that said, "God first, others second, me last." Be unselfish, make your life a channel of blessing to others. Is your fellow man having troubles? Help him dig a hole in which to bury them, and in so doing you will find a place to bury your own.

I often think of a story I heard once. A man saw a poorly dressed, shivering little boy standing alone on the street corner, crying his little heart out. The kind man inquired as to the trouble. The lad said, "My dad sent me to the store with a dollar to buy some groceries. It was cold and I had the money in my pocket; and as I had no gloves, I had my hands in there too and somewhere I must have pulled my hand out and the dollar with it. It is gone." The man said, "Why don't you go home and explain to your daddy what happened? He will understand." "Oh," replied the little fellow, "you don't know my dad. He is a drunkard. He is home drunk now and if I go home without the groceries, he will beat me half to death."

The man took the little fellow by the hand and led him into the store and told the groceryman to let him have whatever the items were that he was supposed to buy. Then the kind man paid for them out of his own pocket, placed the bit of change in the boy's hands and said, "there now son, you have the groceries and the change. You can go home now and nobody will beat you." The little fellow hugged the man's legs tight, looked up with his tear-stained eyes and said pitifully, "I wish you were my daddy." The man said, "I walked around eight or ten blocks looking for another little boy who had lost a dollar?'

One's life is as broad as his love, sympathy, and service. Sympathy is love at work; a man without sympathy is a man without love. You will not have to search long to find someone less fortunate than yourself, someone upon whom you can bestow your love and service. There is a worthy man who is poor, you can pay for his dinner. There is a person frail in body; you could carry their luggage, shine their shoes, help them across the busy street crossing. There are those without anyone to love or, care for them; you can fill that void, you can at least pray for them. There is a sinner with a lonely heart; you can lead him to Christ. We are all in some way debtor to everyone we meet, and surely there is some way to at least pay the interest on that debt. Paul said, "I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise" (Rom. 1:14).

I congratulate you my graduating friends; I am proud of you. I wish you the very best of everything in this life, and my final benediction would be:

When evening draws its curtains, and

life's path you no longer trod,

May your name in gold be written,

In the Lamb's Book of God.