Rivers on the bare heights
Graduates, prepare for the days when you will be parched with thirst
Marvin Olasky

May and June are full of uplifting commencement addresses. Speakers offer sentiments such as, "Today you embark on a great adventure. Endeavor to persevere."

There is nothing wrong with such sentiments. Clichés become clichés because they have a foundation in experience. But graduates, while embarking on a great adventure, will also encounter disappointment and doubt, so speakers should mix in a little reality with the inevitable exhortation.

Graduates will face disappointment with people. Sooner or later a Christian friendship will end in betrayal and a Christian organization will evidence corruption. That will be a shattering experience for those who professed Christ merely because they believed what parents or pastors or friends told them.

Sadly, some people lose confidence in Christ because of Christians. The key then is to remember what an old deacon told me 30 years ago: "Christians will often disappoint you. Christ never will." the rest