Shelburne: Almost Nothing Stays the Same

 Last night, for what seemed like hours, I dreamed that I was back in the classroom instructing my students on how to collect data for a Bible 
history research paper. 

 No. I don't think it was a nightmare.

 In that dream I was teaching those young folks the same index card method I used on dozens of similar projects I wrote when I was in school. In my sleep, however, it dawned on me that students today don't do research in hard-copy books. And, digital dinosaur that I am, I have no idea how they make research notes today and then sort those notes when they start writing their papers.

 Even in my sleep I keep getting reminders that this world is changing and I'm being left behind. Almost nothing stays the same.

 Can you remember when telephones had cranks and party lines? I can.

 Were you around when teachers still used chalk? I was. And did.

 Was your first fridge actually an ice box? Ours was.

 Did you ever own a car that had to be hand-cranked to start it? We did.

 Did your family take vacation trips with your car pocket full of maps? Mine still is. 

 How many of us bought Cokes in six-ounce glass bottles, or took pictures with a camera that had film inside it, or loaded 78-rpm records into a player? I did.

 I'm sure you agree with me that most of the changes have blessed us. I have no desire to regress to a two-holer with a path, or to unpaved dirt roads between towns. Been there, done that.

But I find myself wishing that cell phones would vanish long enough for families to dine together without phones in hand. And I yearn for the good-old (not-too-long-ago) days when friends actually wrote letters to one another.

 The Covid pandemic hatched a flurry of lifestyle changes none of us could have foreseen. And most of us have managed to adapt to the revised schedules for our church activities and the explosion of drive-by fast food. 

 We are more flexible than we ever thought we would be. And that's good, because tomorrow promises changes none of us can possibly foresee.

 Only one thing never changes. Our Lord Jesus will always be the same. Yesterday, and today, and forever.

Gene Shelburne may be addressed at GeneShel@aol.com. Get his books or magazines at www.christianappeal.com. His column appears weekly.