The More Things Change

Have you ever sat at your dining room table and looked at the things on it and wondered... wondered what the archaeologists are going to dig up in 500 years?

I may, admittedly, spend too much time in museums or at King's Landing – but I am forever thinking about what people will think in the future. Why Tupperware, for example. I can picture it now, “they made this throwaway material and then stored food in it” “What, there are so many better ways to store food.” “I know, right!”

Imagine the fun someone is going to have figuring out just what the hell a Keurig is.

It also may be a product of being a little older when I ended up with young children. I get asked on a daily basis questions such as did they have cars when you were little. People tell me I should answer honestly, but I find it more fun to describe in great detail the horse and buggy I supposedly owned and how when I was little the world was black and white because they had not invented colour yet.

But you can see it right? Whether you are 15 or a hundred you can see how much things have changed, can you not? In university I typed my assignments on a typewriter. I first learned to dial on a rotary telephone. I did not even hear of the internet until I was in the workforce. I can name a hundred things I had, or did, or ate that people no longer do. And my kids cannot even picture some of what I am talking about without an example.

The above five paragraphs are a metaphor – an example – that I want you to keep in your mind because it is very visual and very true. We can all imagine how much the world has changed in terms of what is physically in the world.

Now, take one step to the left and ask yourself, is that not true for how we think and feel as well?

When I was growing up I knew for certain that I would get a job. Hell, I could get any job I wanted. When I grew up it was expected that you were going to fall and break your arm. No one was going to stop you from getting on that damn spinning death trap on the playground. When I grew up I never met anyone that was not Caucasian. I may have never met anyone who did not have Scottish blood in their veins somewhere. Whenever an adult talked I listened and did whatever they said. I was out from dawn to dusk without my parents even asking where I was.

But there was more to it. Men and Women did different jobs. Your type of job was determined by what class you belonged to. Everything from swearing to j-walking was so taboo that you felt as if you were a gangster when you did it. Only men and women fell in love with each other. You had kids. You belonged to the boy scouts, the PTA, the Rotary club, the masons or a bowling league. There were not a whole lot of surprises waiting on the horizon – or at least, that is what you were led to believe.

We knew what we owned and we knew who we were. Believe it or not, it was more black and white. Now... take one more step off of that track to the left and let's think about God.

Within the last forty years, within the last 10 years, within the last 2 years, a lot has changed.

Why is it we are so sure that whatever it is the church and God were about 2000 years ago has not changed? Why do we think that the faith that was good enough for my grandfather is good enough for me? The television he had is certainly not good enough for me. His attitudes towards women and sexuality are certainly not good enough for me. Why is his faith good enough for me?

Everything evolves. Our understanding of the universe and of society. I just think we should be more willing and open when it comes to how the church and faith and our relationship to God evolves. What would happen if we just let go?

Change as Rest

The times they are a changing – sorry about that; I felt the need to insert a little Dylan into your day. But they are. Even if it keeps snowing – the seasons have changed.

In the church world, it is now post Easter. Which is the most exciting time in the church world because almost nothing happens! Exciting? You bet! Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter – all of these are high holy days with lots and lots happening. We run through the life of Jesus, metaphorically, in a few scant months and throw ourselves into our faith. There are feasts and fasting, studies and practices... it is work.

I suppose it may be a chicken and egg sort of argument, how our society got on to this rhythmic movement through the year – maybe the church invented it and the civic world took it over, maybe church just adapted the way most people lived their lives... but it is not just in church circles that the times are changing – it is a universal Canadian phenomenon.

This week most University campuses will begin exams – or finish classes. And by the end of the month everyone will go home and find a summer job – perhaps a summer romance – perhaps move back in with their parents and realize how much things have changed....

And what about retired people who now have to open cottages, plant gardens, clean up lawns...

Life has a rhythm and we here in Canada certainly fall prey to it more than some other people – because we have the two main seasons – one where it is too cold to be outside without intention, and one where it is too warm to want to be inside since we spent the last 6 months there.

And life changes because of it. Things slow down, people change focus, and we really do try to make the most of everything around us.

Or at least – that is what I always thought, and what I always hoped. I have lived in a few different ways in the past year, even worked the most minimum wage job you can get – three months in a call centre. Because I had to. Because I chose to walk away from active ministry for a while and get a change of perspective after 20 years in the church.

But again, this is what I am saying, there is a rhythm - a different time and place for everything.

Long long ago some court prophet wrote a poem about it which crept into the religious texts of the day – for everything there is a season, and a time for everything under heaven – a time to live, a time to die, a time for sunshine and a time for snow, a time for ice cream and a time for tea.....

And it is wisdom, deep deep wisdom straight from the soul. A change is as good as a rest goes the current slogan, which it is most certainly not, but there is wisdom there too. We all need the changes that a different season, a different place, a different perspective grant us. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results – so take advantage of whatever changes are coming with this seasonal shift from cold to hot and do something different!

You see, that is the thing, faith is not about some pie in the sky different way of living, it is about seeing the world around you for what it is and living with intention. So embrace the changes, be open to the spirit, and live with intention!

Brett Anningson Brett Anningson is the chaplain at University of New Brunswick and is passionate about progressive Christianity and relating faith to modern culture.