Graduation...an end? or a means to an end?

I have spent time at a Baccalaureate service, a church graduation service and a family graduation party this last weekend.  In addition to these events I was invited to three graduations and missed several others of which I was aware including a grandson's sixth grade graduation 2000 miles away in Texas.

Graduations are significant events because they recognize achievement and completion.   An individuals sets a goal of graduating from high school and/or getting a college degree--or getting through boot camp or completing vocational training-and emerges with a diploma, a rank or some form of certification that they have met the course requirements and achieved their goal.

Congratulations are in order for those who have graduated.  So, congratulations to all who have achieved their goals and completed the course.

Now what?  That may seem a ludicrous question.  My sixth grade grandson will change schools and begin Junior High in Richardson, Texas. A  friend of mine has completed his college work and ROTC training and will enter the Air Force.  Another has graduated from high school and will head for a Christian liberal arts college in Los Angeles to continue her education.  Still another will leave for culinary school. 

The point is this--the "Now what?" for them seems clear. 

For now.

But at some point, the sixth grader will be a college graduate as an adult.  The Air Force serviceman will be a pilot.  The high school graduates, if they reach their voiced dreams. will be an artist and a chef respectively.

Still, the question will always be, "Now what?"

Everything we pursue--and attain--that is punctuated with a diploma or a certificate--is not an end, but a means to an end,  And that end is generally phrased in how we answer this question, "What is the purpose of my life?"

Herein, if you will, lies the rub.  What is the purpose of all of this in the ultimate scheme of things?  For me, I am "graduating" after forty-five years as a minister.  I will be sixty-five and I'm asking the question again, "Now what?"

But it is really just another question about what "means" will I pursue now to continue to embrace my purpose for living--serving God.  That's my end goal, in whatever I do, and it makes the "graduations" and achievements along the way fulfilling--but only as they relate to my ultimate objective,

Figure out what you're really living for, and then purpose that every pursuit along the way--every graduation realized--will resonate with the celebration of what God made you to be.