The Beginning

"Jesus said to his disciples: 'When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.' " - John 15:26-27

My little girl graduated from preschool on Friday. And during her graduation ceremony, they have a presentation with pictures about all the different things they did over the course of the year. There's pictures of them making things to eat, touring fire trucks and police cruisers (hopefully a 'tour' is all she'll ever experience...), reading books and dressing up. And while I like to think I spend a lot of time with her, I realized she's starting to have her own little life - with her own friends, her own experiences, all of which are outside of what her mom and I get to see.

This, of course, comes to no surprise to me - my seven year old's answer to "what did you do at school today?" usually involves words like "nothing", "stuff", or "math". But it's that first leap to independence they make that always reminds you that, someday soon, they'll be their own person. They'll have their own life, their own experiences, their own ups and downs. And you probably will be involved with some of it, but not all of it.

And it's ok.

And as I read the last verse above, I have to wonder if Jesus is recognizing that, very soon, his disciples will be on their own. That he'll be up there watching over them, and helping when necessary, but that they're going to go about this their own way. In their own time. That he's reassuring himself, as much as them, that they'll continue to testify and carry on his message. And that he'll have to trust that it's all going to get done.

It's a good lesson for all of us.