This time of the year, as we begin to celebrate graduations and the ending of one phase of life and the beginning of new adventures for all of the graduates, it is important for us to take a few moments to consider how we truly shape one another’s lives.  The Indian poet, Tagore, wrote one particular line which can be of help in looking at this:  “After you had taken your leave, I found God’s footprints on my floor.”  

When we went off to school as little children, we never imagined all of the people, events, and new experiences that would mold and shape us; yet each person, each event and each new experience has left an impression, a kind of footprint on us.  Because we are all so busy with the activities of daily life, we are not often aware of how God has been walking with us throughout the course of our lives.

Did you ever think that when you went off to school, God went along with you?  Have you ever stopped to consider how God has shown himself to you through the friends you made at school?  As the poet Tagore suggests, it is only when our friends and family have taken leave of us, that we begin to see God’s extraordinary footprints on our ordinary lives. 

As this season of graduation begins, why not use these celebrations as an opportunity to do an inventory of the many ways that God has been walking with you through the years?  Such an inventory can help us recall that the Lord who has walked with us through our school years, is still walking with us today, and will continue to walk with us through eternity as well.