Compost Studios

(My godson is graduating from high school in May, and last week he attended a retreat. I was invited to write a letter to him that would be incorporated into one of the sessions. In considering what advice I could offer him at this stage in his life, I had an opportunity to consider how my own faith has evolved. I thought I'd share the letter with you.)

When your parents asked me to be your godmother, I considered it a great honor. Living on the opposite coast (and now the opposite continent!), I knew from the beginning I wouldn’t get to watch you grow up nearby, but your mom kept me abreast of your activities, and I enjoyed the times we had an opportunity to visit. I watched you grow up in the photos, letters, and newspaper clippings she sent, and while I had no right to be proud of you, I was proud anyway, especially when you made Eagle Scout.

Now as a senior so much of what you have worked toward has been accomplished. Your classes are nearly completed, your high school athletic career drawing to a close, your friendships with your peers, teachers, coaches, and mentors have matured. Up to this point, life has moved along in a neat linear series of grades and milestones, each marking your progress, but things are about to change in a big way. New adventures and new challenges await you, and success will be harder to measure.

Remember the board game Chutes and Ladders? Just when you’re closing in on the 100^th square, you might find yourself on a slide that takes you back down toward the bottom of the board. College will be like that and so will life as a young adult. Faith is like that too. There will be moments when your confidence may falter, when the tasks before you seem overwhelming, when not only will you not know what comes next but you won’t even be sure what you WANT to come next. It can be disconcerting to deal with all the questions and unknowns that adulthood brings.

My advice is simple: learn to live in the moment and embrace the questions that faith and life present. Seek answers and don’t fear your doubts. We serve a God that is bigger than anything we can conceive—allow Him to reveal Himself bit by bit in the people, events, and places you experience. It’s tempting to grab easy answers to the big questions in life and uncomfortable to admit that sometimes we’re not sure exactly what we believe and what it all means. There are moments when life and faith don’t make sense--and that’s OK. Your role is to soldier on. Cowards use doubt as an excuse to do nothing, but the wise keep seeking answers and God’s presence.

As you graduate and move on, look for the places in your life and in the world where the mundane and the Divine intersect, where larger truths are revealed in everyday moments, where nature and circumstances reveal miracles. Even when God feels far away, work to better your corner of the world and appreciate the miracle of your life, your family, and those who love you.

Love,

January 14, 2007