Transitions

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

• Lyric from “Closing Time” by Semisonic

Spoiler alert: I’m “going all Jesus on ya” in this post…

Next to Dr. Graf and Dad, this lyric might be the next-most-often quote cited in The Diff.

Toward the song’s end, there’s another lyric “…you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here…”.

If we’re honest with ourselves (and each other), every moment represents a transition. It’s tempting to forget that in the moment.

Society wants us to focus on the past. The enemy wants us to focus on the past. Heck, it’s easy to focus on the past because we’ve already experienced it, and we know what it looked like and remember what it felt like.

But do we?

Time warps our perspective. That pitch the future MLB stud from Mizzou lined right back into my throwing shoulder? I remember it as being “unhittable.” That time we kissed on our first date? What if they don’t remember it being as magical as we do? That day that couldn’t get any better, and then it did? That day that couldn’t get any worse, only it did?

Let’s pull Dr. Graf back in from last Thursday’s Diff. “Most things aren’t good or bad, right or wrong. Most things just are.”

So, we’re called to focus on what comes next. Not to celebrate or mourn a past event that maybe wasn’t so special or so bad. Those moments and events come with us to right here and right now. Let’s just keep in mind that while they may have shaped our perspective, they do not make us who we are.

God did that. He made us who we are. And He’s expecting us to focus on what comes next. Which ultimately, is Him.