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    Eden Prairie Local News
    Home»Spirituality»Spiritual connections: Graduating and commencing
    Spirituality

    Spiritual connections: Graduating and commencing

    Rod AndersonBy Rod AndersonJune 7, 20253 Mins Read
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    Here we are in the month of June again – the “grazing season,” as I used to call it when I was still actively pastoring in the congregation.

    Invitations to parties and celebrations were plentiful, and so were the tables spread with treats to enjoy, which I did, often to excess! You can “overeat,” but you can’t “overcelebrate” during this important season of graduating and commencing – a true transition time in life.

    Graduation marks the completion of a defined educational journey and the beginning of what lies ahead.

    Commencing marks the beginning of a journey – the first step in a process that will unfold over time.

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    Once again this season, we’ll see preschool and kindergarten graduations, followed by ceremonies for elementary, middle and high school students. For many, the next milestones will include vocational or technical school, college and graduate school – all marking educational achievements worth celebrating!

    The major transitions will be symbolized by the traditional turning of the tassel on the mortarboard cap from the right side to the left. I picture that “significant turning” as representative of the especially dramatic pivot from graduating to commencing … preparing to producing … learning to doing! That’s not an easy transition, but it’s exciting and certainly worth celebrating! 

    Big-time CONGRATULATIONS are in order, along with prayers of gratitude for the graduate, the family, the teachers and the school! 

    Big-time BLESSINGS are also in order, along with prayers of hope for the commencing of callings, careers and all the new beginnings that transition entails!

    And, of course, I believe the biggest transition of all is from death to life – a graduation marking the conclusion of earthly endeavors and the commencement of a heavenly afterlife!

    The Rev. Dr. Dick Hamlin remains the most important mentor in my ministry and my life. He was my model for what a pastor must do and be, beginning during my college years and continuing when he prepared my wife, Julane, and me for marriage. Pastor Dick officiated at our wedding, sponsored me for ordination, and served as my internship supervisor. For years, he cheered us on in all our “graduating and commencing!”

    For all our endeavors and transitions, he had a simple but profound saying – one that fittingly sums up the subject at hand.

    He’d say, and I repeat: “Finish well … Begin new!”


    Editor’s note: Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) contributor Pastor Rod Anderson also serves on the EPLN Board of Directors. He was the senior pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie. 

    Interested in contributing a faith-based column to EPLN? Email editor@eplocalnews.org.

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