May 20, 2012:

Les Preludes

This is the time of year for graduations. It used to be that only graduations from high school, college, or graduate school were marked by the pomp and circumstance of robes, mortarboards, diplomas, and academic hoods. Now there are graduation ceremonies from pre-school to kindergarten to elementary school to junior high school. While some may think that this is too much of a good thing, I disagree. Graduations mark the ending of one stage of our life and the need to move into the challenges of the next stage. A ceremony attended by family and friends reminds the student that what they have achieved is important, but incomplete.

At their recent concert, our excellent Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra played a piece by Franz Liszt entitled "Les Preludes," "The Preludes." Liszt intended the music to reflect the different preludes or beginnings in our lives from youth to old age. Every stage of life is a prelude to the next. It may be that only in looking back later do we realize just how significant these graduation preludes were.

There is something not only joyous but also a little poignant in these moments. There is clapping and cheering at the ceremony and happy parties afterwards. There are congratulations and celebrations, but I wonder if there should also be a little sadness as well. When we graduate from high school or college this is likely to be the last time all our class will be together in one place. Class reunions are never attended by all our classmates. It reminds us that we cannot hold on to the past as a present reality but only as a prelude to a new part of our journey to the future.

So this is my salute to the classes of 2012: Celebrate this milestone in your lives but realize that your journey doesn’t end here. There is so much more that lies ahead of you. The next prelude is just beginning. God bless you all!

Love,
Dave