Thursday, September 8, 2011

nothing stays the same

When you are young, everything seems to stay the same.  Then you are out of high school.  New places, new friends, new stuff.  You start to make your life.  You go through some stable times.

 Then all of a sudden you wake up, and everything is different.  The old boss is gone.  Your parents are gone.  Your softball team is gone.  You family moves to different places. 

Such changes give me a sense of instability, of fear, of discomfort.  I wish for the old days.  I remember how it used to be.  I tell the stories of yesterday.  I even organize reunions.  I drive past the old house.

Sad.  The old house isn’t the same anymore.  The softball guys have moved on.  My old boss doesn’t connect with me the way that I connected with them.  There is a new reality for me.  Nothing stays the same.

And so you are left with a choice.  To pout, to struggle, to talk of the glory days, or to look at today and believe that today is good.  And today is good.  New, different, not the same as yesterday, but good in its own right.  May we always see the good in today.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jeff, when a woman has a baby, it isn't long until the pain is forgotten and everything is beautiful and good (except the crying and feeding at 3:00 a.m.) And, when a person we love dies, it isn't long until we only remember the good, and wish so much they could be back with us.

The irony and the longing described, in what you shared today, is this. We may long for the good old days, because we've been able to forget the bad in those times, and just remember the good things. It's interesting to wonder whether the good old days would seem so good, if our memories mixed the bad with the good.