“Just because everything is different, doesn’t mean anything has changed.” Thank you, Irene Peter. Words of hope on a Monday – what could be better?
I am amazed at how ‘different’ things are since 20 years ago…ok since last week. The pace at which things are changing is either faster than it used to be, or perhaps I am just struggling to keep up. I do know that my getting older has caused Sundays to be about three days apart and this causes Christmas to come about every five-and-a-half months. Time flies – whether I’m having fun or not.
When I was a pre-teen, I longed to be a full-fledge teen, then when I achieved ‘teen-ness’ – I really could not wait to go to college. Of course, college was a place to live out my days longing to be done with college, and married. Then I got married, and a very strange thing happened. I began to want to slow down time, and whereas days had always seemed painfully long and slow – now they were causing emotional whiplash as they seemingly whizzed on by. This phenomenon has continued now for 28 years, and I am certain I have no idea how to remedy it.
My grandmother used to exclaim every July 10 on her birthday…”I don’t know how I got this old.” I understand now what caused her to utter such absurdities. It’s that “vapor” thing talked about in scripture. Something happens when one reaches a certain age to cause this vaporizing pace to gain serious momentum, and then suddenly you wake up one day and you’re say….50!
But back to “things” being different. “Things” are definitely different. I grew up without central air conditioning. I didn’t know cars had seat belts until I was practically an adult. We had a party line telephone in our house…with a very long cord I might add. Eating out usually meant a picnic, and yes – I walked uphill to school both ways. I was born in the early 60′s, so the 70′s and 80′s brought a great many differences. There was unleaded gasoline, power steering, microwaves, and shag carpet. Then, in the late 80′s, my parents sported their first “car-phone.”
In the 90′s, we saw personal computers become a must-have, and everything that had cords became cordless. Y2K dawned without too much of the much anticipated hassle…..and then 9/11 happened and rocked our world…..and I simply cannot believe how different things are since that fateful day. Talk about not being able to un-scramble eggs!
Well, if you are utterly and completely depressed…please do not change the channel. I will refer us back to the opening quote of this particular post. Things are different, but that doesn’t mean all has changed. More than ever before, this is a truth we need to ponder.
I recently read that with all the economic stress we have endured, Americans are eating out less, doing more staycations, playing more board games, and rediscovering the joys of gardening. It’s a return to some semblance of simplicity. It has caused some to rediscover their family members at the dinner table, and to reassess priorities. I must say, I never would pray for hard times, but I often welcome the positive effects.
I, too, have felt a need in recent years to slow things down a bit, and just listen to myself breathe. I have been delighted to discover that some things never change. There are constants that God has installed in the universe to remind us that “He who keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps…and with Him there is no shadow of turning.” When I awaken each day to the sounds of familiar birds, and I put my feet on the floor off the right side of the bed, and start my well-rehearsed routine – I am comforted to know - in a world that is perpetually changing, there is a God who never does.
Yesterday, today, tomorrow……I know Whom I have believed.
