It has been a while since my last post. A lot has happened. Relationships have ended, others have started. Still others have been rekindled. And I'm trying to understand all the while just what happened.
In the midst of the turmoil arising in the United Methodist Church (my home denomination since I was confirmed in the early 1970's) I have found myself wondering. I wonder about what happened. I wonder about the origins of change - especially the changes that we are seeing today, in this moment, in this era. I wonder about the battery of decisions that led up to the point where we are right now. And I'm somewhat confused.
I'm confused about how something that had been so foundational for so many centuries is now "suddenly" outdated, backward-thinking, and dismissed as if it were somehow a part of a voodoo, cult-like, taboo, wives' tale. A fairy tale that has somehow been scientifically proven to be of little to no value, and therefore must be dismissed. I'm confused about how a behavior that once upon a time (not too long ago, I might add) would have fit the description of abnormal, unacceptable, and quite frankly, somewhat insane, can now be considered "courageous, heroic, and brave." John Wesley is getting motion-sick in his grave from rolling over so many times! At what point did our world decide that these things were okay?
I don't remember getting old. (And you know what I mean!) We used to shake our heads and smirk at the "old fuddy-duddies" who would pshaw at us like we were lunatics. (Now, just using the word "fuddy-duddy" makes me old.) What happened?
What happened to the timeless and timely truths that were passed down from generation to generation as essential for "right living?" What happened to the elements - the foundational elements - that set the stage for what is normal and abnormal?
Now, I know all about normality and abnormality. I've had enough psychology in my educational background to write books about it. Normality is nothing more than a statistical term - defining what the majority behavior is. Anything outside of this behavioral "norm" is "abnormal." I get it. I understand that. And I know that there are always going to be changes. I know that people's perspectives will change, and that those statistical norms will change along with them.
What I do not get is what started those changes. I don't understand that what was once so far outside the norm that it was considered odd, but now has become acceptable. Not only acceptable, but if you don't accept it, you will be considered a "bigot," or a "hater," or a "____-phobe" (fill in the blank with whatever behavior is being questioned.) Since when did I become the bad guy in this? All I did was ask the question, "when did things change?"
And so I am wandering around in my mind, and wondering all the same, that somehow, somewhere, I missed a turn, or went to the restroom, and came back and found that the channels had been changed. And I don't fully understand the plot anymore.
Perhaps, it is just me. But a little part of me says, "I'm not alone on this." Somewhere there are others, like me, who are wondering, "what the heck happened?"
And the sad part is, I don't think I'm old enough yet to pine for the "good ol' days."
