Weekly Reflection , Sunday, May 12, 2019
By: David May, Rector
Last week, I met with the Confirmation Class for our final meeting. You should know, they are wonderful, wonderful young people. They are – as far as I’m concerned – the apple of God’s eye. What I appreciate most about them is the way you can see in them – here and there – a little glimpse of who they are as well as who they are becoming.
They’re finishing up eighth grade which I personally remember being ‘a challenging year’. For me at least, it was that time where it became clear that I was definitely not a child anymore, but I sure wasn’t an adult yet either. So, if you’re not a child anymore, but you’re not quite an adult, what does that make you? Well, that’s the big question at that age: who am I and what will I be? I remember trying on all kinds of answers: I’ll be a veterinarian, no, an oceanographer like Jacques Cousteau. No, I’ll be a forest ranger. For me, it was a long list!
Part of the gift these wonderful young people give to us is a reminder of the possibilities that life holds open for each of us whatever our age and however settled we think we might be. Of course, some things aren’t possibilities anymore. I’m past dreaming that I’ll be an astronaut someday, and maybe you are too. But I am sure that God is never done with us, never. In fact, God is much more interested in what we are becoming than in what we were. A wise friend said to me once, ‘God couldn’t care less about your past. But your future, now that is something that God is very interested in.’ Spending time with these beautiful young people has kept me close to that insight.
It has been a gift to be a part of our confirmands’ journey over these past months. I find them inspiring, smart, funny, intriguing, and good-hearted. And today, for who they are and what they are becoming, we surround them with our love, prayers, and encouragement. I hope that you find a way to say ‘thank you’ and ‘we love you’ to them. Their lives are already a great gift of our parish, for who we are, and for who we are becoming.