by Jourdan Reynolds
Guest Column
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.” — Isaiah 55: 8-9
As we conclude this season of graduations, I want to address my fellow graduates of 2025. I congratulate all of you, acknowledging the time and effort you put forth for academic achievement and success. You have exciting times ahead and enormous opportunities to embrace the Holy Spirit and listen to God’s voice.
How many times is the question posed to graduates on what their plans are following graduation? I would say about 50 times at least! There seems to be a social norm in answering this question with a ready response. We must remember, though, that God’s plan for our lives always provides more than we can ever imagine. As the prophet Isaiah says so eloquently, the Lord’s thoughts and ways are always above our own. As I reflect upon my recent graduations, these words of Isaiah resonate ever so clearly.
When I graduated from high school, I remember being filled with enthusiasm and dreams for the future. I wanted to major in theology or youth ministry and be part of the New Evangelization. I wanted to be a theology professor, a director of religious education or a college missionary.
When I graduated from college, I was still filled with enthusiasm and dreams, with the addition of realism. I was graduating with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education but did not have a teaching job lined up. In fact, I had secured a job as a laborer for a local vineyard for the summer. A vineyard in Iowa of all places! I ended up teaching for a short time but realized I wanted to work with youths and their families outside academics.
Now, graduating with my master’s degree in social work, I can’t say I have any immediate ideas or dreams. I am hopeful for the future but I acknowledge that God’s plan for me is much more complex compared to previous graduations. I hold experiences in direct services with individuals, families and all age groups and abilities. I also hold experiences in administration, management and indirect services. I am most interested in the topic of systems change and how to address the needs of society for a greater outcome. It’s no coincidence that one of my favorite quotes of St. Pope John Paul II speaks to this idea, “As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.” Whatever is next in God’s plan, I know it will incorporate all my gifts, talents and experiences in achieving my goals, providing for my family and doing God’s will in my life.
I invite all graduates — high school, undergraduate and graduate students — to have enthusiasm and dream big dreams. Be proud of your achievements and look forward with hope. More so, I invite all of you to have faith, humility and trust in God’s plan for you. His ways may not always seem straightforward or make sense to us, but why should they be? For as the Lord says, “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.”
(Jourdan Reynolds is a millennial and parishioner of St. Mary Parish, Grinnell.)
