What is Transitioning?

I have an envy problem.

I am insanely jealous of people who live in the Northeastern US- heck, anyone who lives in the northern US in general. They get to experience one of the most beautiful transitions on earth, the coming of Autumn. I love looking at pictures of leaves in red, gold, orange and so many other colors whose names I don't know. Whether the picture is of tree lined streets in Vermont, or twirling Aspens in Colorado, I am stunned.

Then I look out my window and see another transition. Change is happening, and there is the occasional glimpse of shining color, but for the most part leaves turn brown and fall. It is not glamourous and I highly doubt you'll see many picture postcards of the trees in the Brazos Valley this fall.

Our lives are full of transitions. We'd love to think they are all like the typical Fall tree pictures- beautiful and awe-inspiring. Mostly our transitions are brown and un-glamourous. It's not that they are bad, its just that we don't see the beauty in them at the time. Graduations, Weddings and Births are the picture postcard transtions in life we think of, but other important transtions like changing careers or choosing to change the way we eat are not viewed with the same wonder.

I spend a lot time with people in transition. College Students are in that constant state of metamorphosis. Old ways to do stuff are supplanted by new. Dependence begins to shed its grip so independence can flourish. Childhood becomes a memory replaced by the reality of adulthood. But strangely enough, they seem excited about life. Hopeful and expectant that these changes are for the best. They seem alive. They see most of their transitions as 'Aspen Gold' rather than "Get the Rake Brown."

What happened to us then?

I was like that back then. I guess I grew out of it, got too mature for wide-eyed wonder. I started thinking more about how many bags it would take to clean up the leaves rather than just admiring the beauty of the transition in progress. I then started to dread the transition itself. But the problem is that when we stop growing, we start dying.

Spiritually speaking, we should be in a constant state of transition, of growth or discipleship if you will. I don't mean that we must be constantly educated. I actually think thats a part of the problem. Theology is great, but it can be hard to apply to the real world. It doesn't do me much good to know a lot of facts about the ancient Babylonian Empire if it doesn't help me to better deal with my current difficulties and struggles. Too often, theology can be more about the practicality of the leaf bags than the beauty of the leaves.

2 Peter 1: 5-9 says it this way:

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

In other words, knowledge and education in an of itself do not make you effective and productive. You need to be growing, you need to be deepening in your relationship with God.

For too long, church has allowed Discipleship to equal Education when Education is merely a small part of the whole. Discipleship is a Transition from Unbelieving to Faithful, from Immature to Mature. From Attender to Attempter.

A lot of us attend church, but it stops there. We do not input into the church, we merely take up space. We say it's because others do the job, or we have nothing to contribute. We know the answers, and we get fed all the spiritual stuff we want, but we do nothing with it. There is no transition from head knowledge to hand and heart action.

A big fault of this falls at the feet of each other. It is my job to help you transtion in you faith journey, and vice versa. Transtioning is not a thing that can happen by just reading a bunch of books and listening to some cool music- Transitioning requires us to engage with other people, to be challenged by differing viewpoints and to be drawn into action by the passions of those around us.

I think thats how things changed for me. It just became better to go it alone, rather than trust in others to help me grow. And I grew think more practically, and less faithfully. It takes spending time with people who still dream and hope and expect big things. We who have been through the transitions our current college counterparts are now facing could stand to re-learn from them the joy of change and hope for the future.

We could stand to put down the leaf bags of theology and practicality, and stand in awe of the transformative power of simply sitting in God's presence and being changed.