There's one more graduation that I'm looking at today.
Just think of all the wondrous steps I've made along the way.
I graduated on the day I came upon this earth
When I was pushed from mother's womb and breathed in air at birth.
I didn't think much of that change, it really made me mad;
But that was just the first of all the great big steps I've had.
Thank God there was a crowd to cheer, a hearty celebration;
The birth of children to this world's just cause for great elation.
A dozen years of childhood - then, mercy, what a leap,
The years when parents pull their hair and fall into a heap.
Ah! Teenage years, the hardest years, time for concentration
Of love and guidance, rules and sports, and constant meditation.
Then on the day we've waited for - High School Graduation,
With tear stained eye and happy sigh there is sweet consolation.
Deep within each beating chest a banner is unfurled
That says "I met the mark! I overcame and I can take the world!"
It's at this point that lives diverge and scatter across creation.
Some don the timeless uniform and stand to guard the nation.
Some marry childhood sweethearts and start a family plan.
Some head out for the tractor and start to farm the land.
Some take up a gun and shield, some hard hats, some a saw.
And in this blessed land of ours there's room for one and all.
Some are off to college to work on their degree.
In that direction which you go, make that your specialty.
What'er you do, give it your best. One day you'll contemplate
To find the height of your success that you can graduate!
And when you find you have achieved, that you've become a master,
Turn around and see the youth, they're catching up much faster.
And isn't that how it was planned, to lift up one another,
To pool our knowledge, pool our love, and all go on much further?
We graduate from step to step as we go through this life
From birth to teen, to work and plan, to husband and to wife.
Our life is just a staircase. Each step is strong and bold
and with each step that we step up, new glories there unfold.
You will never know the feeling of a husband or a wife
Till you stand there before our God and promise up your life.
Although you know a newborn child has many innate charms,
You cannot know this gift of God till yours is in your arms.
And if you think that that's supreme, there can't be any more,
Just wait till you taste the sticky kiss your grandchild has in store!
The Bible says you may perform for angels unaware,
And burden-sharing people demonstrate the Savior's care.
Extend God's love from up above in reverent confrontation
To all you meet on life's long street with prayer and meditation.
Lift up the poor, visit the sick, give the dying consolation,
The hungry feed, with lost souls plead, love all of God's creation.
A God-fearing man can't take a stand over anyone he meets
For we'll all be there at that Holy Chair - before God's Mercy Seat.
So step by step through life we go, each step a graduation,
Though not all steps are burden-free for some cause consternation.
Some cause grief or sadness, but all steps make us grow.
Sometimes we know we stepped too far, sometimes, we fear, too slow.
Some steps should not be taken for the timing isn't right;
Those are the steps we labor for and pray night after night.
But even if we step it wrong, God's mercies never cease
For God is willing to forgive and grants to us His peace.
When life is done and time has come to go Home with the Lord
We'll be in Hallelujah Land in joy of one accord.
We'll live in Heaven's "Sonshine" straight from the Holy Face,
Sing anthems of our reigning Lord and His amazing grace.
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me,
Oh glory to our risen Lord, His blood has rescued me!
God the Holy Father. Christ the Holy Son.
Spirit of the Living God. The Trinity in One."
Doris S. Jamison
Copyright 1997
