This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the commencement ceremony for the Class of 2024 at the school where my wife teaches.

During this time of year commencement services are commonplace as the achievement of graduates, irrespective of the academic level, is celebrated.

Dictionary.com defines the word commencement in this manner – “the ceremony of conferring degrees or granting diplomas at the end of the academic year.”

Check this one off the list as degrees where conferred on the 30 graduates being celebrated at the event which I attended.

I typically get reflective at commencement ceremonies. My mind detours to former commencement ceremonies in which I participated directly as a graduate or indirectly as a parent or friend of a graduate.

As is par for the course, I also get emotional as I think of the paths ahead the graduates may take. Tears formed in my eyes this weekend and I did not have a personal reason to elicit emotion such as a son or daughter graduating.

Speeches were given which described the academic, sports, relational, and spiritual paths the graduates walked. It was a time of looking back with fond and funny memories.

However, commencement is also described as a beginning point. It’s a time to recognize one season ending and a new season beginning.

The ceremony gave those being honored a chance to look forward to the new chapters which will be written in the lives of these young people. Some will take a gap year off from school as they search for their next steps. Others will attempt to enter the workforce while some will attend the college of choice.

No matter the path, it paints the picture of new beginnings.

You and I may not formally be graduating with the Class of 2024. The season(s) of academic formality has long ended for some of us. It is hard to believe my high school graduation occurred nearly a half-century ago (next year).

Nonetheless, you and I will have multiple commencement ceremonies over the course of our lives. Some are pleasant, like the birth of a child. Others might toss us into the deep end of the pool where we are seeking a life preserver and trying to make sense of a negative situation.

Whatever the case, they are invitations to seek new beginnings.

You might be in a season of raising and caring for your children on a day-to-day basis. Embrace it while you can.

Some might be experiencing the loss of a spouse and attempting to answer the question of “what’s next”. Grieve your loss as you enter a new phase of your life.

Others may be praying for a season of “hope deferred” to end while grasping for a new season of “desires fulfilled being a tree of life.” Hold on for your Father is carrying you!

Personally, I embrace the promise of a new season as the one which I currently find myself has been long and at times difficult.

Life is cyclical. Seasons come and seasons go. Nature reminds us of this reality.

“The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.” Song of Songs 2:12 NLT

If you are experiencing a season of difficulty please know it will pass. Allow the words of Scripture to encourage you as your Father offers this promise for you to hold onto.

“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Congratulations to you as a member of the class of 2024 as you enter this season of new beginnings!