Transitions

We are all living in a period of transitions whether or not we wish to admit it. For example, my brother and sister-in-law and our parents recently celebrated their own wedding anniversaries; my daughter became a graduate from the High Risk Clinic for babies born prematurely at Arkansas Children’s Hospital; my best friend – and our own extended family of friends – celebrated the life of his grandmother; my own eventual move from working the graveyard shift to having to live and interact in a traditional daytime world of politicking coworkers, rush hour traffic, and paying for childcare; two of my neighbors recently graduated from high school to higher education and the real world with a third entering her senior year; and of course, there is the 2016 presidential election to become the next occupant of the Oval Office. Often these changes are met with initial resistance or a cautious reticence due to the nature of transitioning itself; it is over time (and conquering our fears of the unknown) that we are able to declare proudly of living through the experience and/or being on the right side of history.

We also wonder if we are making the right moves; after all, no one wants to jump from one frying pan to another.

Keep in mind the victors get to tell the story. In the United States of America, is has been skewed strongly to the Anglo-American majority views for the better part of the last four hundred years, and it is only recently that other stories are finally being presented in the limelight sometimes shattering the idyllic Rockwellian images of an America that rarely fit the matching narratives – ask any black, Hispanic or Latino, Native American, LGBTQ, female or Asian-American citizen where in his classic paintings we fit.

But all of our transitions are for naught; we also cannot freeze time nor return to a period where America was great for a few select people who benefited from the conflict, worry, and trouble in the larger world. Some of our parents, grandparents, and others need to be reminded that 1957 was not that great of a year for most of us:  True, it was the height of American automotive know-how and the year most interstate highways opened nationwide, but think for a second. The national tax rate for the top earners was an astounding 91 percent and minimum wage was an afterthought. Let’s not forget about those “pesky coloreds and their equality” in the attempts to overturn Jim Crow including school integration as well as ending separate but equal legislation in all facets of life as our parents, grandparents, and others view life from rose-tinted lenses of a privilege that never truly existed as if life was an episode from Leave It to Beaver or the Andy Griffith Show.

You grow, or you decline and eventually die. There is no in-between.

Jesus also explained to the disciples in Romans 8:39 to “get up, get out, and get something”. Well, not in those exact words (thanks, Outkast!), but the point is that neither the world nor we should stand still lest we become antiquities of ourselves. Transitions - both external and internal - are unavoidable as most southern state governments are learning once again as the shams in North Carolina used to disenfranchise minorities from voting are unconstitutional. Moreover, He says “Don’t be afraid,” because the changes are ultimately for our own good – and nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord.

As the world surrounding us transitions from one phase to another, I ask two questions:  1) Are we keeping up and staying relevant, and 2) Why are we afraid of actually doing what God has asked of us?