Transitions
By Charlie Whitehead, High School Senior
Presented as a Part of Youth Sunday
May 11, 2025
I’m so glad I’m able to be up here again and give another sermon to yall. That’s something i never would’ve guessed i would have said but here we are for round 2 so hopefully i don’t disappoint yall, especially charlie jay whos called me reverend for a year now. For my sermon last year I loved the idea of doing the mothers day themed one because I had much more in my head to talk about with that topic. In doing so and without meaning for this to happen I conveniently gave myself the opportunity to talk to yall about times of transition this year. What a perfect fit for my life right now with all that I have going on and all the change that’s happening all around me. But as I was thinking about this sermon, I didn’t have much. What do i do? How many times have I asked myself that question, I genuinely couldn’t give an estimate. For 7 years of my life that’s 40% of it ive been at mount de sales. For 14 years that’s almost 80% of my life i’ve been going to school. And for 18 years that’s 100% of my life i have known my sister as Annabelle Whitehead. And in August all of that will change. Looking at it this way is probably not the best way, it’s a little blunt. The foundation of my life, the things that have been consistently there are changing. It hit me walking out of my house one day, that i wouldn’t be living there in 3 months. That’s insane. As I got closer to graduation there was a lot of excitement but also just feeling weird. I’d known for a while what college I’d be going to and nothing beats summer time, especially when there’s no summer work for school for the first time in 7 years. So with all this excitement for what’s next and for the break I’d have what was the feeling? I wasn’t as sad as some of classmateas, not because I didn’t enjoy my time, but because I was ready for what’s next. I wasnt glad to leave however, I truly cherished the moments I had and the memories I got to make. I wasn’t scared of what lied ahead, I knew exactly what lied ahead and had for some time. So what was this feeling that I couldn’t get over? It was nothing. In the most literal sense I was feeling nothing. If my heart was a pie chart then the “school is over and your life is changing part” was not there. A slice was taken. I was empty. Now it took me as second to get this but this is awesome, let me explain. What has been consistently going on my whole life is changing. Which is scary but also means there are infinite possibilities. As Doc from back to the future says at the end of the third film, “your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one.” This is one of my favourite quotes because of the freedom it gives you. As you go out into your life, and I mean you as in each one of you because it is absolutely never too
late to make your future a good one, you should strive for your future to be made a little better at a time.
I want to take a second to make the preacher happy and talk about a book. This book is my absolute favourite. I read it last year in my English class in an assignment where I got to pick a book to read, and I can confidently say that this book genuinely changed my life and my perspective on life. This book is Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. If you’ve ever read this book your takeaway is probably different from mine as my college counselor said mine was a very intriguing way of looking at it. Into the wild is a true story that follows a boy named Chris McCandless who drops out of college, sells all of his belongings, and lives out of his car while traveling the country. Now don’t worry this isn’t my plan but I do think there’s alot to take from his story. He broke contact with his parents when he left because he knew they would never let him do it. As he traveled his car eventually got stuck in some mud and he left it and decided to go to mexico. He got into Mexico and canoed down a river for miles until it dumped him back out into the ocean and he went back up the coast to america. When he got back he started to switch between going places he liked and getting small jobs here and there, all with one goal in his mind, Alaska. He wanted to go camp in Alaska with nothing and live off the land. Now up until this point he heard a lot of “you shouldn’t be doing this” and that didn’t stop when he went to alaska. But that never stopped him. He went to Alaska and lived there for nearly 4 months before sadly eating a mushroom that led to him becoming sick and dying from dehydration. Although his story ends with a sad ending it’s still a story of chasing dreams and not letting anyone else stop you. Chris McCandless lived out his dream even with everyone he met telling it probably wasn’t a good idea. And even though he died, how many people can say that they’ve experienced the beauty of earth like he got to. I am inspired by Chris to live my life and not let others kill my dreams just because it doesn’t fit their narrative of what life should look like.
Now I’m leaving out one thing. There is one person you should let affect your plans, God. but do know that his plans are purely good for you so there’s no need to stress about it. And know that in all of your dream chasing he will be right with you making those crazy dreams feel more achievable. He’s always in your corner and a verse that I feel really portrays this is Jeremiah 29:11 which says “For I know the plans I have for you,’declares the Lord,’ plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope
and a future.” This verse gives comfort that God will always be there right by your side. I’ve got God and Gods got me. With this, understand that your crazy dreams are meant to be chased, and it’s never too late to make it happen. Why would God give us 1 limited life on this planet? Because it’s special, and we should make every day that we get, count and make it a memorable one. As former Florida state coach Willie Taggart but more famously Chuck Whitehead says, “Have a good day if you want to.” So go have a good day and make your future a good one because we only have 1 opportunity, so don’t waste the gift that Gods given you on this wonderful and beautiful world.
Thank you