I Never Thought I'd See the Day
Have you ever used the phrase, "I never thought I'd see the day"?
I never thought I’d see the day when I would start saying, “I never thought I’d see the day,” yet let me give you a few examples of how I have used this little ditty recently. For example, I never thought I’d see the day when I was the uncool or embarrassing one.
Parents and grandparents out there, do you remember when you were the cool ones? And then, all of sudden, someone comes along--with your last name and MUCH younger than you--informing you that you are NO longer cool? And NOT only aren’t you cool anymore, you don’t even know what cool is!
I never thought I’d see the day. But apparently I am no longer able to judge coolness. Now, all I am good for is going around the house shouting, “Who left the light on?!?” and “Close the door! I'm not paying to heat the outside!”
Or how about this? I also never thought I’d see the day when I needed a helper to drive my car. But since I am getting older, and am married, I have a helper now while driving. She lets me know how fast I am going, “Do you know how fast you’re driving?”
“Yeah, I have a speedometer right in front of me, thanks. But if the needle ever snaps in half, it’s good to know you’re right here.”
She lets me know when the traffic light turns colors and everything. “It’s green you know.”
“Thanks Captain Colorwheel I got it.”
And if all that wasn’t bad enough, two weeks ago I was getting my haircut. The stylist was like, “Your highlights are incredible. Who did your highlights? You know I do highlights, and I never get them this good. The way they blend….” And she’s going on and on. This is no joke!
Sadly, I had to inform her, “Listen, those aren’t highlights. That’s gray hair.” I never thought I’d see the day when someone thought I had highlights because of all my gray!
Now…of course, those kinds of “I never thought I’d see the day” stories are humorous. However, I have some other stories here that aren’t nearly so funny. For example, a couple years ago while my son was having his guitar lesson at a local lesson center, I sat in the waiting area reading Entertainment Weekly. There was a section in the magazine that was all about “Must See Season Finales.” One of these “Must See Finale’s” was a show called Glee. The whole plot line of this finale involved a teenage boy going to buy a ring for his boyfriend. Well, I never thought I’d see the day when that was must see TV.
Not too long ago, I was reading where Christian groups on major college campuses like Vanderbilt, the University of Michigan, and others were being decertified because these colleges said the Christian groups were discriminating because they actually wanted leaders of these organizations to be followers of Christ… imagine that.
I also read about 2nd Grader Laura Greska who couldn’t take the book The First Christmas to school to share for show and tell at Christmas time because it talked about Jesus being born. Another 2nd grader in Frenchtown, NJ was not allowed to sing Awesome God during the school’s talent show and her family was even issued a temporary restraining order to keep them away from the school on the night of “Frenchtown Idol.”
I read about the Santa Clara school district in Florida which banned voluntary, student-initiated prayers, off the clock discussions about religion, and the use of the phrase “God Bless.” And I read about Federal Judge Robert Gettleman who banned moments of silence in the state of Illinois stating that “it was a subtle attempt to force children at impressionable ages to contemplate religion.”
And don't get me started on this whole transgender bathroom thing! If you had told me even just five years ago that such a thing would happen, I would have thought you'd gone crazy. Yet, today, here it is. I definitely never thought I'd see the day.
But guess what? That day is here, and our response to these days will leave a legacy for the next generation. I wonder what that legacy will be.
Will it be a legacy of lethargy or vitality? Will it be a legacy of people standing up for Jesus, saying NO to compromise with the culture, and living out faith in Christ regardless of what others think or do? Or will it be a legacy of complacency and compromise?
Which will you choose?
