Love It, Leave It, or Transform It

It attracts me to it … like a moth to a flame (where I too often get burned). It disgusts me at times. At times, I want to embrace it; and at other times, I want to throw it away and start over … overhaul everything. In regards to leaving a mark (not carbon footprint, but impacting), I often struggle with whether it is leaving its marks on me or me leaving my mark on it.

Society, Culture, the World. We all live on it. We all have to deal with it. There are things that differ depending on where you live … city, burbs, country, international, or hermit like. It differs by our generational attachment … Boomer, Millennial, Buster, the unnamed Alpha generation, or whatever. I’ve lived in big cities … Dallas, Charlotte, NoVa – and I have lived in the country … like now in Evergreen. You might even say I have lived internationally – if you count those years in Louisiana where it is a culture unto itself inside the USA.

But there are things that are global in its cultural impact on us … the search for meaning, the fact we have desires/dreams, the pain of loss and struggle, the pursuit of happiness.

We all see things like beauty in creativity (both of nature and in human creations), feel things like love and nurture, and experience the wonder and warmth of relationships and more. But we see stuff we don’t like, are against, wish would change, and even hate.

So …… we have to handle this tug of war in our lives. How are we to deal with a culture that may go against the very core of who we are (are at least who we want to be)? Three options …

1. We can love it. Go ahead and embrace culture, even that which we don’t like. Don’t rock the boat. Go with the flow. Tow the line. This may be more like loving it with a cafeteria style mentality … we will pick and choose the good things. Yeah, we may not eat those funny, green, steamed asparagus stalks, I will leave for someone that may like those. But I won’t try to change the menu or voice displeasure to the cooks.

2. We can leave it. Run. Get away. Gather with like minded individuals and form a commune. Create our own little bubble where the world doesn’t, or can’t, impact us. Move to Mayberry, or an island, a mountain get away, or a secluded village in Pennsylvania (think M Night Shyamalan). The world will carry on without us and we will survive … kind of.

3. We can transform it. Ding Ding – we have a winner here. I truly believe we are to be impacting society, leaving a mark on culture. Be the salt, be the light. Don’t hide the light under a bushel … let it shine.

Now how we do this transformational lifestyle is the tough part … join us tomorrow as we explore that a bit. Till then, be blessed.

Note … today is my birthday. I realize I have more behind me then before me. As I ponder my impact, I pray that I can be used more and more to connect people to the One true Source that does transform hearts, homes, nations, and the world … may my light shine and reflect and glorify Jesus.

What about your light?