Loss of the Familiar and Living in the Present

Susan2 Comments

How many times have you moved since college or since you left your childhood home? I’ve moved ten times since college. That seems like a lot. I have lost familiar places, faces, relationships, and rhythms each time.

Even though I have moved for seemingly justifiable good reasons, the familiar spot at a favorite coffee shop will never feel quite the same. And time spent with friends changes. When friends do not live close by (whether they or I have moved), the time does not breathe freely or stretch out luxuriously ahead of us. It is vacuum packed into small weekends and weeks. Friendships require oxygen, and not all survive.

Each time I move, I think I will restore my network of life-giving connections. New friendships do develop, but they take time. And, I have not always realized that one of the costs of moving and loss of connection is that part of my soul goes missing.

Perhaps the challenge is to recognize and grieve the loss (when needed) and pick up with living in the present. Every day holds the possibility of making fresh memories (like going to the local farm’s U Pick Peaches event) with new friends that, over time, become cherished, dear friendships.

We always have choices. Each day, we can pay homage to the gods of brokenness (by living in disconnected and guarded ways), or we can honor and serve the Living God who redeems broken things (and people) and makes them whole.