24 May Congratulations Class of 2018

Graduation season has begun!

Years of study, dedication and hard work have finally paid off for this year’s graduates. They’ve planned and dreamed of this day for years. Some even counted down the days until they were off to college or off on their next great adventure.

The excitement of the season is infectious. It takes us all back to that time in our own lives when we celebrated the great accomplishment and privilege of education. For many, it also brings back the countless walks of life we faced at that pivotal moment of change.

As all of these new graduates head off into the world, they will be taking on a new set of wheels on a life journey through ups and downs. To all the graduates out there, there’s a beloved John Muir quote that seems appropriate for the next step in your life:

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”

John Muir, often dubbed the Father of our National Parks, was a wilderness explorer, writer and naturalist. His words are powerful, but even more inspiring is that they are universal and can inspire different people in different ways.

This particular quote to me is full of hope and of wisdom. You have an infinite number of paths before you. Some of the paths will be rough, unpaved and raw. Those paths-less-traveled are often the most fruitful and fulfilling. Follow your path and wherever it leads let it be walked with God.

I’d like to leave you this week with a few more words of wisdom from John Muir:

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

Congratulations to this year’s graduates! You have earned it!