The Last Period
“He also said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water.'"
The last period on the ending sentence of the last paragraph of the final chapter of another school year was inscribed today, closing out opportunities and performances for students and teachers alike. Goodbyes were said to those students who, for one reason or another, won't be returning next year, and next week the same will be done to several teachers. Final grades will be input into school records in the coming days, becoming part of a permanent record that will be sent out to everyone from possible colleges and universities to prospective employers for many years to come. The finality of days like this can be thought provoking in so many ways.
For students, there is no more studying for tests, that opportunity has passed. Turning in missed assignments is no longer an option, the window for taking advantage of the extra credit offered has closed, and whatever grade has been earned, whether good or bad, is now final. For getting the grades they hoped for, there are no tomorrows. Teachers and students alike may never again see the students who aren’t returning. Whatever impact on their lives they had hoped to make has either been made or not made; the result is now unchangeable and the impression left indelible. Relationships were either formed or not formed, and, in the same way, the period has been placed on the sentence of that opportunity.
The patterns of a school year, with its beginning and ending dates, are not unlike many areas of our lives, only much more obvious and easy to follow. The finality of life’s many interactions with others is unavoidable and should sober us to the importance of living in the moment we’ve been given. Some last three months like several of my summer ones while in college, and others thirty years like many of our parents’ enjoyed, but jobs too always come to an end. The opportunity for relationship and interaction that they provide, for sharing our life’s story and testifying of God’s goodness, has a beginning and has an end. You rarely can circle the date on a calendar as many teachers and students do each year but its certainty is no less guaranteed.
The relationships you and I have on which a period has not yet been written are more precious than we often realize; they are gifts from God to be treasured and represent moments to be seized. Some opportunities slip away, lost without our really knowing how they went by so fast, chapters of a book that end far sooner than we had envisioned. Others are such a part of our lives that we assume they will always be there, only to leave us shocked when the unannounced ending date comes sooner rather than later. Today’s last day of school is just one more reminder for us to live in the moments we’ve been blessed with, to enjoy every chapter of our lives and the people we’ve been honored to share them with.
God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church
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