He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
When I was a girl, my parents limited the amount of television we watched, but there was one show that we rarely missed: Star Trek. I can still recite the opening, “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” I also remember some story lines vividly. The episode where the ship’s crew rescue children from a planet who die upon reaching puberty or the one where the ship is invaded with Tribbles, furry living dust mop like creatures, were real enough to bring fear and joy. Another, I believe, but cannot prove, (perhaps I am thinking of another science fiction show), was about an egg that hatched into something like a dinosaur or dragon. I recall a scene where people are gathered around a large egg about the size of an ostrich egg, that begins to crack and then, to sizzle as a small but mighty baby creature appearing cute, but capable of destroying the entire ship. Was that Star Trek or something else? Wait! Could I be thinking of Harry Potter? Some members of my work team are reading a book by Richard Harwood called, Stepping Forward: A Positive, Practical Path to Transform Our Communities and Our Lives. One of the last things I want to do before I leave is to lead our team into the future with the thought of how our museums and historic sites can be agents of change. While we do not deal with social issues or services directly helping people, I feel that we can, as keepers of the community’s memory, help to shape it for the better. In this week’s lesson, Harwood talked about the role of rebellion in shaping our country and how a rebellious attitude can fuel hope and renewal. During the meeting, someone asked me how what we were learning applied to me as I face retirement. I told them that I feel free, but even more significantly, I feel rebellious. I can set aside the desire to please, please my boss, my cohorts, my friends, even in some ways, my family. God is the only one I need to please, and I stand at a crossroads. Shall I continue as I am or can I begin to live life differently? I hold that egg, cracking and sizzling. While I am filled with wonder at the thought of the future and know that something exciting is on its way, I just don’t know what. I question whether that hatching egg inside of me will lead me “to go boldly” into the future, if I will maintain the status quo or if I will be a bit of a rebel. I’m leaning towards rebel. I’m not set on destroying what’s good, just, kind and loving, but think I might be an agent of change. Stay tuned for the next episode.
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