It's Just Not the Same

The other night I was driving to an appointment and I noticed that the local funeral home didn't have their lights on. They have a long driveway lined with about a dozen light posts and all of them were turned off. I can only imagine that with the rising cost of electricity and the challenges of a recession that they've chosen to save the money. And while I can't fault them for watching out for their bottom line (it is the responsible thing to do), I do wonder how much is life going to change? And maybe more importantly, how much does life need to change?

Years ago during World Wars I and II, the whole nation pulled together and people sacrificed their food and luxuries for the good of the country. They opted to put themselves second. Now, more than 50 years later, the nation is run by a generation of people who have never had to sacrifice. Gen Xer's such as myself are thrown into a whole new way of living life. We don't konw what it means to have delayed gratification. We're in the age of e-mail, text messages, and cell phones. If we can't get hold of someone immediately, then we assume that they're ignoring us (they couldn't possibly be in the bathroom just wanting one moment of peace).

And so a person like myself, when I drive down the road and see that the lights are off and people are cutting back and conserving, my gut reaction is to disdain the change. But in reality, there is a change that needs to take place. It's a change that's more important than saving a few dollars on the PPL bill, it's a change in my attitude. As a Christian, I'm used to putting God first. It's what I do, but it's interesting how we compartmentalize that part of our lives to the spiritual side. Maybe now is the time to let it spill over. Maybe now is the time that we all need to put something else before ourselves. We need to be willing to wait. That's a tough thing...I'm a doer. I don't like waiting. But that is a spiritual thing. God tells us repeatedly to wait on Him and "be still." So here we go, this is me...being still. I'm only able to do it because I know He is God.