Rite of Passage

My daughter recently graduated from middle school. Her"tribe" gathered to witness this Rite of Passage. Graduation from eighth grade leaves her perched and ready to swoop down from the tall tree of adolescence into young adulthood and high school.

Everything changes when we cross a threshold.

It may be invisible to the rest of the village, tribe or even the world. But within the terrain of the soul we must stop and take stock of what and who we are in this moment. Then, and only then, can we step onto the path of initiation.

As my daughter received her diploma I was acutely aware that a friend sitting to my left had said goodbye to her boyfriend earlier that morning when he was sentenced to eighteen months in jail.

Another threshold.

Another initiation.

As I consciously held the joy and the sorrow of these two events, a raven flew over the procession of graduates, calling out as if to remind those who may have forgotten, "be who you are," for what other choice is there?

Hannah Stepping into a New World, #8660

© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: June 11, 2010; Canon 20D; f/8 @ 1/320 sec; -2/3 EV; ISO 400; 100mm.

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