Transitions

A week ago this evening, a dear friend and colleague died unexpectedly while out of town. He leaves behind a wife and teen-aged daughter who must both mourn his untimely passing and imagine how to rebuild their lives on a different path...an unwanted, but necessary, transition.




Transitions happen to all of us: we move into a new home; we graduate from school; we take on a new job or project; we retire from full time employment; we loose a spouse, a parent, a friend. All are times of transitions; some expected and greatly anticipated; others not so much.  These "others" are times of unrest and trepidation.  They are thrust upon us unawares without preparation or forethought.






Most of us like to be prepared. We save for a rainy day or retirement.  We go to preparation classes for College Boards, GMATS, GRE's and LSATS. We practice over and over again for organ, piano or violin recitals. We memorize times tables so we can be swift and accurate in computations. Yet we still fear being unprepared.




So we pray, as we do in the Great Litany of Lent as it appears in the Book of Common Prayer: From all oppression, conspiracy, and rebellion; from  violence, battle, and murder; and from dying suddenly and  unprepared, Good Lord, deliver us.




But are we ever really prepared for these transitions? At what point does one become an adult?  Upon turning 18? Or when one begins paying rent and monthly bills? Or is it when work and family responsibilities force one to curtail the partying cycle of those halcyon student days? Or perhaps when time and fortune force transition due to the loss of a loved one, especially a parent or grandparent. 


When that ephemeral layer of older generations that hangs above our heads begins to disappear, and we realize that we are now what Great-Uncle Harry was before us...we are now the top of that layer and once we are gone, all memory of those who went before us, at least in our family and social circles will disappear when we ourselves pass on.



And we need, at any point in our own life cycle, to realize that transitions will always happen.  They are part of this human experience and should be embraced for what they are.  We have little control over them, but we can learn to accept that they will indeed happen.