My nephew's graduation

For Jacob, on the occasion of your Graduation Day. June 7, 2009

Jacob,
I can't let my lame brother outdo me with his wise words sent via email. So here are some of my thoughts for this day. And maybe a few for the days ahead.

Jacob, have you ever thought about the fact that you were the one who made me an uncle? You are my first nephew. Yours was the first diaper i changed (i was like sixteen years old and i still remember that it stunk really bad!) From you i first sampled loving another for no other reason than sharing one's blood. Of course, i had relatives before, but there is something different about being an uncle. I will never forget the well-spring of emotions when i first saw you. You were only hours old. And as i reached into your incubator to touch you, you grasped my thumb with your entire hand. Perhaps because it was all so new, perhaps because you were my sister's baby...or perhaps because in that embrace you helped me taste of the feast of sharing life with children. But for whatever the reason i give you thanks.

I give you thanks because in some very real ways playing with you, watching you grow and following your development into a man have helped prepare me for fatherhood. You are many things. The top of any list describing you would certainly be that of compassion. Your compassion for others is one of the best traits anyone can have. What a joy it is to see (as Dave said so well) how the boy we carried on our shoulders is now the same young man who carries our children on his shoulders. You are wonderful with children. But you are also compassionate with friends and adults. You will go far on this one trait alone.

Two years ago as a young man you stood before your family and your church and said, "Yes" to the faith your parents, grandparents and uncles shared with you as a child. I remember the discussions we had about your time in the Confirmation program. Not everything was as good for you as i would have liked. But despite some inadequacies in your congregation you were still given the resources to have the seeds of faith bear fruit in your life.

For your Confirmation day, I was serving as pastor to my group of confirmands. Ann Christin and my kids were here, but i was not. I was deeply saddened for not being with you to celebrate that day.

You have so many gifts. Not least of these come from your years in Boy Scouts. Devotion, discipline, and leadership...what great joy to see you achieve what so few ever do. For your Eagle Scout i was far too far away. But my pride for you on that day—shared if but only through a Facebook entry about you—was meant to embrace you despite the miles apart.

What Ann Christin and i give to you this day is a gift for these major events in your recent past, for the celebration of today and for your years ahead. This knife is still based on the ancient design by the native peoples of Northern Norway. These people, the Sami, still give this knife as a sacred act in the rite of passage from boyhood to manhood. Traditionally, this knife is carried by all men on a daily basis. It is quite literally used for everything from tree felling to minor surgery. In days of old it was the one tool they used for everything life might hand them. This knife has become a symbol not only of that transition into manhood, but the sign of always being prepared.

Like the Boy Scout motto, “Always prepared,” i am proud to see in you this ability. You are prepared through compassion, faith in Christ Jesus and the deep embrace of family (no matter how many miles may separate us).

You are a gifted person, Jacob. I look forward to having even more contact with you through video calls over the internet. God is with you. God goes with you. May you know God’s embrace each moment as you transition further in the path of life.

~ your uncle, Darin