There are many reminders that time never stands still. Over the holidays I caught up with some friends that I had not seen, in some cases, for decades. Clearly, we had all aged – 30 years will do that – and so we partially comforted ourselves by saying that with increased years comes increased wisdom. The reality is that we cannot stop the advancing of time. I was again reminded of this on Monday night at the Valedictory celebration, when photos were shown of each student in Prep and then in Year 12. Not only does time not stand still, but there are also times when it seems to pass very quickly. Those photos were a reminder of how quickly it can pass.
There is a prayer in the Old Testament which simply asks of God that he help us to live our days well, for we get one shot at life and we all want to do it right. Time passes too quickly to fill our lives with bitterness, jealousy, resentment or selfishness. What does living well look like? Surely it has to do with nurturing relationships that are important to us, surely it has to do with reaching out to others in kindness and surely it has to do with investing our lives in the things that really matter. May we all live our days well.
We wish the Year 12s the best, not only in the exams, but also for their future.
Rev. Gerry Riviere
Senior School Chaplain