If you’re like me, you get a little choked up when something ends. Certainly at someone’s funeral, but also when a restaurant you like closes, your last day on the job, or the end of a long-running TV series. And, like me, you’re probably sad at the end of a fun vacation, when you must get back to reality.
But nothing lasts forever, we know that. Sooner or later, everything comes to an end. As Willie Nelson (or original artist) said, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over. I guess all good things must end. Call it a night, the party’s over, and tomorrow starts the same old thing again.”
The funny thing is that we sometimes even miss the stuff we don’t like. My uncle, who lives in Houston, is no longer able to drive. The last time I visited him, he made a funny comment: “Oh I wish that I could go get stuck in traffic.”
Commencement means beginning. Closing Time – every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. When one door closes, another opens. New Year is the end of a year, but it’s also a beginning, and around the world people are always optimistic about the year to come, not sad about the one that is closing.