I have just attended the final assembly for the first Year 6 group to ‘graduate’ from our village Primary School. It was a very moving experience and I was privileged to have been there.

 

It is unsettling saying goodbye to the known and trusted aspects of the established, secure and familiar and then facing the unknown and uncharted prospects of the future.

 

While mulling over the thoughts and emotions that were expressed and evident throughout the school assembly, I found myself considering the actual process of saying goodbye and looking at the words we use at such times of parting.

 

Sometimes our goodbyes are casual to the point of being almost reflex responses of social convention; while at other times they are carefully considered and deeply meaningful expressions of love and hope. Leave-taking ranges from the throw-away “See you later!” to the lingering vigil at someone’s bedside as they come to the end of their life’s journey.

 

In both of these scenarios there lies an often un-vocalised, but nevertheless implicit hope in there being in fact a possible future beyond the immediate present. I began, starting with ‘Goodbye’ itself!

 

From earlier Godby, Godby'e, Godbwye, God b'w'y, God bwy yee, God buy you, God be wi' you:  each a progressively shorter contraction of God be with you, with change of God to good by confusion with good morning, good day, etc.
Then some Synonyms
(informal) catch you later, bye, bye-bye, ciao, sayonara, see you, so long, ta ta, toodeloo, TTFN, ttyl

(formal) adieu, adios, farewell

(slang) hasta la vista, hasta la vista baby, later, laters, keep it real, peace out, take it easy, toodles, peace, cya

(UK, informal) cheerio, cheery-bye, toodle pip (dated)

 

and some more  
aloha, arrivederci, auf Wiedersehen, au revo

ir, cheers, ciao, good day, shalom, so long……..

As is right and fitting, each of these has a hope, a wish, a thought or a prayer invisibly bound

 

into it. However, I must ask whether, along with the aggressive secularising that we encounter around us ever more each day, we are losing the real intention of our farewells?

 

I am staggered at times by the way that God is rejected in Press and Media by individuals who have probably spent less time seeking after the Truth than they spend gelling their hair for their photo calls.

In the main I think that one is faced with a choice, either to lead an ego-centric life with ‘self’ as the centre of being and the universe; or a Theo-centric one, with God as the pivot around which it all revolves. Knowing my own weaknesses, even in my most selfish moments, I can in no way provide answers to the questions of life from within myself than the cow jumping over the moon.

 

 

So, until someone can provide me with conclusive proof that God does not exist, I will continue to wish my friends and acquaintances, “Goodbye - God be with you” – and live in an expectant hope, until we meet again.