Graduation is an opportunity to stand on the threshold between the old and new experiences. Rev. Carlos Samuel Reyes Rodríguez joins Generación In Between to tell his story about making the most out of the blessed pause.
See more videos in the ONWARD series with Rev. Carlos:
Identity / Carrying the Family Forward / Personal Peace & Wellness
Script:
Hi! My name is Carlos Samuel Reyes Rodríguez and I serve as a Deacon in Peninsula-Delaware walking with our Latinx people. What am I doing with my life?
That is the question that we ask ourselves during
moments of uncertainty, crisis, or emotional fatigue.
Graduation is a point in which you might wonder what it is going to be next.
It might be referring to work placement, but I think this is a question of purpose.
As a village comes together to celebrate the
culmination of another stage of your life with excitement, graduation also offers uncertainty.
One can easily be a recipient of this overwhelming sense.
When I finished my master in Divinity, I felt a duty to know it all.
I had to know all the answers related to the Divine - but also where I would go, what I would do, or who I'm gonna serve with.
Our tendency is to believe that we can figure things out ahead of time.
In addition, we aim to not make more mistakes.
If you are graduating to be a math teacher, an environmentalist, or a psychologist, you have lost the right to say, "I don't know!" "What is next in my life?" slowly becomes an intimidating inquiry.
As a ritual, besides transitioning us to a new destination, graduation is also a powerful experience for growth.
It helps us to remember our lows and highs, the regrets and the forgiveness as well as the strength and courage that we embodied to arrive to this point.
This internal examination may help you to
realize how much you have changed since you entered high school or college years ago.
Your social environment changed too.
Therefore, isn't it normal that those plans, your plans, had evolved through that period?
Not knowing where the next step is can be taken as a curse due to the external pressure and anticipated responsibilities.
Nonetheless, uncertainty can also be a blessed pause to discern beyond career goals.
It doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't diligent or proactive.
It could be a period from where your former visions are catching up with the newer you.
I hope, regardless of the status a diploma provides in the work market, that no position, no title, and no salary takes you away from the original hunger to belong and be in communion with goodness.
May this be the time to pause and contemplate how this personal cornerstone cooperates with the continuing re-discovery of your purpose in life, your purpose on earth and your purpose with the rest of creation.
God's Love, Justice, and Peace be with you today and always.
