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Summer vacation is winding down and school is about to start. For some children this is an exciting time. For others it can be a time of sadness as they mourn the end of their summer vacation. They all know that summer vacation and youth itself are not our permanent state of being.
The children know that they will someday have to grow up, leave their childhood behind and enter into another life entirely, which these school years are preparing them to live more fully.
A few of the more mature students not only realize this but look forward with joyful anticipation to the day when they will leave school and summer vacation behind.
However, the life to come is filled with unknowns and change is not always easy. We can become comfortable with the way things are and hesitant to try something new.
Some young adults even begin to look back upon their childhood years with fondness. They'll miss the friends of their youth and the simple joys of childhood, the carefree days of summer.
Yet some of their friends and siblings have already moved on and wait to share the happiness of the life ahead of them. They've heard how wonderful their life to come can be.
The more mature students also realize that being a child on summer vacation is no longer enough for them. Their spirits yearn for something more, something others have promised awaits them. Something that will be far better than anything they have known before. Something that will fulfill all their dreams.
Our life in this world is comparable to childhood. It has been like summer vacation, we've enjoyed it, and perhaps forgotten that this isn't all there is to life.
For many of us it is time to get back to school, to the lessons of life and holiness which will be so important when our childhood on earth comes to an end. In the great school of life God himself is our teacher. I hope to see you in class.
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Finding Faith is written by area pastors. This week's column comes from Rev. Fr. Joseph Orr of Holy Spirit Catholic Parish, Lock Haven.