2011 has been the banner year in our household.
On Good Friday, our son Dylan got married. Coincidentally, so did his wife. Like Deb and I, they will now go through life sharing the same anniversary date. The synchronicity is simply oozing, isn't it? Although, I'm not as Jung as I used to be.
Two weeks later, Dylan and Steph graduated from Cedarville University with degrees in psychology. They each have a minor in Bible. Dylan also minored in philosophy and bioethics. He is now qualified to tell you what you think, why you think it, why you think at all, how you think, and what you ought to be thinking.
Saturday a week ago, I met my biological father for the first time in my life. Kind of a different day, especially since I'm 51 years of age (Like I said, "Not as Jung as..."). It went well. He's a pleasant man and has a sense of humor. But I believe Alzheimer's may be setting in. I'm not certain he understood exactly who I was or why I was visiting. At any rate, it was a worthwhile venture. I truly enjoyed the moments.
Next Tuesday, Kelsie will graduate from high school. My alma mater, good ol' Waynesboro High. We'll have more to say on that later, I suppose.
What do we make of milestones such as these? They each hold their own kind of significance. Marriage is when two become one. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh." - Genesis 2:24. When God created everything, He saw that everything was good - with one exception. "It is not good that man should be alone." So God created woman.
Graduation is a hint at destiny. It moves us to the next level and forces us to face the future. We sometimes look back at the days before graduation as "the best days" of our lives. It's because we realize that we were generally free of obligations and responsibilities and the general angst of life - though we wouldn't have thought that at the time!
Seeing my father provoked thoughts about who I was myself. I'm not sure how to express my sense of myself now - but it has "adjusted" slightly. You can't attribute it to anything that was said in my meeting with my father. There wasn't anything particularly profound in that.
And I can, and should, say that he's not my real "Dad" obviously. That distinction lies with Robert James Black who passed from this life 17 years ago Monday, May 30th. The May 30th he died happened to be a Monday, a Memorial Day, too. I miss him and wish he were here.
But behind these milestones are other thoughts on meaning. I believe a great many psychological and sociological challenges would be brought to states of peace if folks would simply learn to humble themselves and submit to the One who created it all. Our origin, meaning, morality, and destiny all rest in Him. I believe God is independent of His creation. He doesn't need the universe to be but has willed it to be. And He has made Himself known to us through His creation, through His Son, and through His Word. Starting there begins to lay strong philosophical and, naturally, spiritual foundations for life.
It is not good for man to believe he is alone. We need to see that God is there. And God created us to be creatures of relationship in order that we might have a relationship with Him. And with parents and children and spouses and siblings and grandparents and other family and friends we find relationship and also meaning for life itself.
