## 71:17
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> Taught from My Youth
>> God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.

Occasion: Graduation

Lord, the gown is rented.
The tassel will move once, then be kept in a drawer.
But the years beneath this hour were bought dearly.

You have taught me from my youth, Lord ---
through every teacher who was patient with me,
and even those who were not so patient,
through late nights,
wrong answers,
and the slow arrival of understanding.

I do not want to walk off this stage
and forget how much I did not know a decade ago.
Keep me a student of something, always ---
if not in a classroom, then in Life.

I have declared Your wondrous works already.
I have my remaining lifetime to declare them even more.

Send me out with more than a diploma ---
send me out with a teachable heart,
useful hands,
and gratitude for everyone who got me here.

This hour is short, Lord.
Make what follows it long, and well spent.

Amen.