Swift Transition

Many are familiar with a song that begins with these words:

Time is filled with swift transition –
Naught of earth unmoved shall stand.

The past few weeks or so have demonstrated the truth of those words on so many levels. Globally, the transition was from one year to the next. While we all could prepare for and plan for the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, the actual transition took place in a second (or maybe a fraction of a second).

After a seemingly endless “election cycle,” our national government made the transition from one presidential administration to another. While there was so much preparation and anticipation, it seemed sudden to me when the Chief Justice of The United States Supreme Court administered the oath of office to Mr. Trump and then said simply, “Congratulations, Mr. President.” One man was no longer our president and another man now held that office – again in almost the blink of an eye (or less).

What was true on that level was also true in other branches of our federal government and in a variety of state and local governments. Various elections and appointments on a variety of levels caused “swift transitions.”

On a personal level, when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 2016, I was no longer one of the preachers for the Central church of Christ in Paducah KY. In fact, after over thirty-eight years of preaching, I am now no longer preaching “full-time.” As I type these words, I am still trying to come up with an answer to a question that I’m being asked repeatedly: “How is retirement?” My “stock answer” is that I’m still trying to figure that out.

Again, there was prayer, conversation, planning, anticipation, etc. involved in this decision. Even with all of that being true, from the perspective of looking back on how the events transpired, my “retirement” was/is, indeed, a swift transition.

It seems to me that so many things in life are swift transitions. There is a moment in time when a child is no longer in the mother’s womb to somebody who needs our attention in order to survive. A moment in time is really all it takes for that child to transition to not being formally educated to becoming a student in a public school system or in a home school environment.

Years later, that same child makes the swift transition from being a student to a graduate. He or she may change from being single to being a spouse in what seems like a split second.

The transitions that happen in life involve relationships, geography, employment, age, and a host of other factors. They all seem to be swift.

I have been with members of my own family as they made the transition from time to eternity. I have been with members of other families as they have had the experience of making that transition. I have received those phone calls that inform me of a sudden and unexpected departure from this life. Whenever and however death comes, that last heartbeat and/or breath is a signal to those left behind that there is a transition for which we all need to be prepared.

The Bible speaks of an event that will take place “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” (1 Cor. 15:52). Contrary to the teaching of some, this event will take place without warning and without any subsequent opportunities to change our eternal destiny.

Knowing that, the rest of the first verse of the hymn referred to above contains some valuable, practical, and much-needed admonition:

Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn