A PC(USA) amicable split – pre-requisites
A number of people have started to conclude that the best solution for the current liberal/conservative divide in the PC(USA) is an amicable split. We’re currently pursuing a non-amicable split, involving illegal congregational votes to leave, civil suits, and coercive tactics used by congregations, presbyteries, and even synods. I’ve heard from lots on the web (mostly conservative) that a split is needed. I’ve heard some in private from people who aren’t ready to put their stake in the ground (many progressive) that a split may be needed.
I would define an amicable split as one where the majority of the Church recognizes that what we’re doing isn’t working, the majority feels that the split is necessary, and an orderly (hey, we ARE Presbyterian) method of splitting up the assets and people is being used.
So what would be required in order to pursue that split?
- A group of leaders from the conservative side, and a group of leaders from the progressive side would have to stand together and say that the split is needed. While some of those leaders could come from the organizations in the front lines of the current battle, I feel that the majority should be people who have been trying to preserve the denomination up unto this point.
- Those leaders would have to work together to put together a plan for how a split would work. I tried to write one a while ago, and got lost in the minutiae. I might post one soon in less detail. At any rate, this core group of pro-split leaders (called “the core group” from hereon) would have to write it, propose it, and sell it to the rest of the denomination. The plan would have to be detailed, include the differences in the Book of Order and Book of Confessions that each resulting denomination would have, and include a plan for splitting assets above the congregational level.
- The core group would have to write a series of enabling amendments to the Book of Order, and get a presbytery or several to overture the next GA. Included in the proposal should be a scriptural justification for splitting. This set of enabling amendments should also include an amendment prohibiting any changes to the Book of Order or Book of Confessions before the split is complete.
- The General Assembly would have to approve the plan and amendments. This might include stopping some other processes already started (particularly the Book of Confessions changes).
- The presbyteries would have to approve the amendments.
- The plan would start taking effect upon the approval of the presbyteries. I have no doubt that the plan would include a coordinating committee made up of equal numbers of conservatives and progressives who would oversee the operation of the split.
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So the big question is this – who would be in the Core Group? Which leaders from each side are willing to step up and say “I’ve changed my mind – it’s time to stop fighting and find a way to split and work together.”?
I certainly don’t qualify (I’m not even an elder), and even so I’m not 100% sure that a split is necessary. I believe that over time generational differences will result in the progressive side “winning” – in that their views will become the dominant views. The only questions in my mind are: Will the denomination and local churches survive the fight until then? Is “winning” important enough to take up our energies while we wait for generational change?
I would note that a group (or individual? Only one contact name is listed) of conservatives have proposed a Two Synod Solution within the PC(USA) denomination. I do not believe that this plan is complete or even a good idea, but it may provide a basis for thinking about how a split might take place.
What do you think? Are you ready to say “We need to split?” Are you opposed to a split? Are you willing to be one of the leaders who steps up?
Breakfast with Bruce – Wed, November 12, 2008, Lawrenceville, NJ
Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA), is coming back to Lawrenceville, NJ! And you can join him for breakfast.
Bruce will be meeting and speaking with all comers for breakfast from 8-10am on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, NJ. If you haven’t gotten a chance to speak with Bruce about the present and future of the church before, this is your chance. He is trying to get a chance to talk to as many people as possible during his travels.
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If you are on Facebook, you can find more information in this event.
A bit of a round-up
Hello, readers. I have been neglecting you lately.
Here’s a bit of a round-up on things going on with me at the moment.
Job Search – I think I’m going to stop counting days on the blog. I’ve been making good contacts in the last few weeks, and today I have my first meeting with a “hiring manager” (someone who is in the right position to potentially hire me). It’s not an interview – just a meeting. The search is going slower than I’d like, but apparently reasonably on track according to my outplacement coach. The economy and general financial crisis aren’t helping.
Church – This part of my “non-work” life is busy. My deacon work is adding a little time to my Sunday mornings, plus I’m serving as the “e-mail reminder” person who sends a note to the deacons scheduled for a particular Sunday. My youth work is keeping me busy as well – the time commitment is a bit higher than last year because of some schedule changes for the Sr. Highs, but it’s completely worth it to me. I was asked to be the webmaster for the church website, and I’m investigating how much time that actually takes – it might be too much. Project Open Door is moving along nicely to the end of our chartered work – we brainstormed issues surrounding hospitality, visitors, relations with the community, and inactive members last week. In our next meeting we’ll brainstorm solutions, and then start writing up the report to the Session to be delivered in January. I’m looking at starting spiritual direction. Aside from a minor dust-up this week, all is well in this department. I will admit to my faith taking a beating due to my job situation, though.
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Home – All is well. Carolyn is a conservative spender by nature, and I am one when the situation calls for it. We’ve pulled way back on our discretionary spending and even made some more economical choices with our necessary spending. This is setting us up well for a long siege if necessary. The lack of a job hasn’t hurt my relationship with Carolyn that I can see. The cats love having me home more often. The homefront is safe and stable right now, and financially prepared for a while. Carolyn is still taking next week off from work (a Smith family vacation including my parents and siblings was planned for Orlando – we have to miss it for financial reasons), and I’m taking our anniversary on Wednesday off from job searching.
Ham Radio – I’m still participating a little. I haven’t been able to purchase equipment beyond an HT (walkie-talkie-style radio) and accessories. I saw the trouble in the economy coming even before I knew that I’d be laid off, and chose not to spend in this area. I am staying involved with some emergency management and public safety events, and I’m still attending the club meetings. I think I’m qualified now to get a key to the club’s radio shack and will pursue that soon – they have LOTS of equipment for club member use there. Unfortunately, ham radio activities tend to be scheduled at the same time as church events, and between the two church wins.
That’s about it. As always I welcome any comments, and assistance in my job search.
Starting as a Deacon
My journey as an active deacon is beginning again.
Last night I attended my first Board of Deacons meeting at church. This was the reorganization meeting for this year. I had also been to New Officer Training last Saturday.
I was assigned to the Prayer Team, my first choice. Last year’s deacon president preached a sermon in which she recounted her trepidation in being assigned to the Prayer Team, so I was surprised to see last night that the 3 slots were filled with people who had chosen it as their first choice, plus 2 others will join us as well.
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I wasn’t able to sign up for communion (our church uses elders and deacons to prepare, serve and clean up) – mainly because I am already assigned to coffee on communion Sunday in October and all of the preparation slots were taken by the time the sheet got to me. Maybe I’ll be able to do it in November. The last time I was a deacon the Book of Order specified that deacons could only serve communion if there was a shortage of elders, so I had only 2 opportunities to serve (one at camp, one at Triennium). This is a meaningful experience for me, so I look forward to doing it again – even if I have to sit up front at church!
The entire Board meshed well, so I look forward to a good year or three.
Post-Montreat Blues
Today I’m somewhat deep in the Post-Montreat Blues. This is apparently a common affliction, caused by the collision between the mountaintop high (emotionally, not physically) from a Montreat conference and the mundane realities of “real life” back home. In other words – while you came home feeling wonderful, ready to change the world, and quite possibly changed for life … the rest of the world didn’t change all that much while you were gone. I’ve experienced the same with Camp Johnsonburg experiences – though the Montreat experience was at a much higher intensity.
I’m trying to figure out what’s next.
This week we had movie night at the youth group, and most (but not all) of the crowd that showed up was from the Montreat trip. We looked at the pictures from Montreat from a few people and then watched Saved! the movie. We got a very insightful question from one youth who wasn’t on the trip about increasing the presence of faith in daily life. I really think that between the Broad St. Philly mission trip and this Montreat trip we have a LOT of momentum going into the fall for the youth group. Big things could happen!
I’ve found some confidence and new connections when it comes to working with the youth – particularly in my preferred style of one-to-one. Again – momentum.
For today, I miss the relaxed me from the trip. Sunday night I forgot to take my blood pressure medication, and I didn’t feel the effects. My co-workers all remarked on Monday how incredibly relaxed I seemed to be. In many ways, that’s the Real Me, and I wish I could have it all of the time.
I also really, really miss the daily contact with my friends from my church and with the new friends that I made on the trip. Seeing them on Facebook (or not at all) just isn’t the same. I know that if we’d been together more than a week the usual interpersonal frictions would develop, but that was a really nice week. Tuesday evening helped.
I’m also feeling a bit emotionally adrift. The Montreat Youth Conference experience produced in me (and probably in many or most) a safe space where I could drop, tear down, explode, or simply eliminate the wall between my emotions and the outside world. I was able to letthe Real Me outside of my head to a degree not normally possible.
Unfortunately that wall is somewhat necessary for daily life, particularly at work. Rebuilding that wall takes some time, and is leaving me a smidge off balance.
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Now I’m trying to figure out the implications for my life. One thing that I see (and have seen in the past) is that my job (the combination of place/culture and function) is out of line with my faith and values. Please note – this is NOT the same as saying “I need a new job”. There are several possibilities for how to fix this, including possibilities where I remain where I am and possiblities where I move on.
Some have heard the first whispers (or more) of a call to the ministry as a result of this week. I don’t believe that I’m one of them. This is something that I’ve considered from time to time in my religious life (before and now) but I just don’t hear the call. My 10th grade computerized career assessment aside, I’ve never in my memory been told by someone that I’d make a good minister. I think my call to the faith lies elsewhere.
For now, though, I’m considering the possibilities. I’m remembering a few key rules:
- Don’t make any life-changing decisions within a week (or longer) after such a mountaintop experience. Regain equilibrium first.
- The rest of the world didn’t change overnight. Maybe you did, but there weren’t big changes elsewhere.
- Big, Meaningful Change requires Big, Meaningful Thought. And time.
That’s where I am.
If I met you on the trip, I miss you. A lot.
Montreat Youth Conference, part 2
The Montreat trip was absolutely wonderful. Amazing. Transformational. Fun. There are so many reasons.
We started out by driving 9 hours to Greensboro. Our youth director used to be the youth director at First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, NC. We stayed overnight in their youth room (VERY NICE, and with lots of comfy couches and other things to sleep on). In the evening Saturday we were treated to dinner by our youth director’s in-laws at their beautiful home (not to mention entertained by the dog).
In the morning, we were treated to a tour of this VERY large church (new members have a class on how not to get lost) and breakfast. We then attended worship. I found lots of useful information on how they work with visitors that will be useful for my committee.
Then we went to lunch at Fincastle’s Diner and headed for Montreat.
In Montreat we stayed at First House, a private home owned by the Greensboro church that is rented out to groups staying in Montreat. It was a nice house and suited our needs very well.
Sunday evening, the program began with a welcome session at Anderson Auditorium and Recreation outside.
The program continued with keynote in the morning, small group once or twice, and worship in the evening. Friday night’s worship was capped by people with candles all the way around Lake Susan two deep – it was so pretty.
Then we drove home 12 hours. Ooof.
The youth from my church could not possibly have been a better group, or worked together better. They were ready to go on time every time (sometimes earlier). They voluntarily pitched in and helped with chores, often before being asked. They supported each other emotionally and clued in the adults later – leaving the adults free to handle the big stuff (or their own stuff). Everybody got along well aside from the minor frictions caused by 14 people spending a lot of time together. I could not ask for a better group. These 10 youth are now permanently on my list of favorite people.
I feel the same way about my small group. There were 26 participants (3 adults and 23 youth) plus our small group leader. I liked everybody in the group. Think about that. 26 other people, and not one of them was even the slightest bit bothersome or annoying. This is amazing. The conversations were deep and meaningful, the games were hysterical and fun (I “won” Big Booty), and I was truly impressed by what other people said. I hope that I have made one or two or a few friends for life from that group. I know that I truly love and care for all 26. Our small group leader was a newbie – having just turned 21 (we couldn’t believe that – he is mature beyond his years) – and he hit the ball out of the park.
Some vignettes:
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- It was HOT most of the week. The week redefined the concept of sweat for me. However, I didn’t really mind. It was cool enough in the evening to sleep and the small group room was air conditioned.
- The keynote team did a great job. We’ll probably use at least one part for our confirmation class. The concepts that they discussed were well reflected in small group and worship.
- The worship was especially meaningful for me (particularly Monday and Friday). Michelle Thomas-Bush did a good job.
- Music was fun, and included some songs that I really enjoyed. One in particular was very meaningful for me. Jorge Gonzales was the music leader, and was joined for a lot of the week by Wallness from Haiti (who knew our youth director from when Wallness was a youth in Haiti).
- Recreation was well done. I didn’t get involved in most of the “optional” recreational activities though I did enjoy watching them. The first night recreation was where I met one of those “friends for life” that I mentioned above.
- The site is gorgeous. Hilly to be sure (I seem to have lost 5 pounds, and moved some of my remaining weight away from my waist), but beautiful.
- Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and Raspberry Sorbet make a great combination. The boundary layer is to die for.
- When we went to Asheville NC on our free afternoon, I bought the first pair of sandals that I’ve ever owned in my adult life. I am now fully qualified for youth ministry. (There is no need to tell me not to wear socks with them – others have done that already.)
- I went swimming. Unfortunately, I was rock-hopping at the time. I went into the water and completely soaked myself. I also completely soaked my backpack. The electronics all survived, but I need a new Bible and a replacement for the hardcover book that was in the backpack. I also had some nasty scrapes. My youth were perfect in that they refused to let me walk back to the house alone – they insisted on accompanying me and carrying my backpack.
- My co-workers actually said I seemed relaxed when I got back to work yesterday. No, really!
- You can’t imagine how fun it is to do energizers with a bunch of youth every day. Adult silliness should be mandatory.
- One of the adults in my church group has the uncanny ability to sing harmony with any piece, even if she hasn’t heard it before. It was beautiful.
- I had lots of deep one-on-one conversations with my youth. This started the first night and I think it’s continuing now. They impress me with how seriously they take their lives and how thoughtful they are of others. There is unexpected depth here.
- Every group needs at least one unabashedly sunny morning person.
- See this post for the most strange and wonderful part of the week for me.
- The Jesus in Me loves the Jesus in You. ‘Nuff said.
I’ve already written in another post about my personal transformation. I’d like to add to that some confidence in doing youth ministry. I’m now wondering how to make my job better aligned with my faith and personal ideas about life. Or find one that is. I don’t feel a call to ministry (though several others talked about this after this week). I just feel like I’m not where I should be.
If you are a youth, or you work with youth, you should really consider going to a Montreat Youth Conference. Groups can be as small as 2 or 3, or very large (I’ve heard of the neighborhood of 50). Yes, it’s a little scary going to a new place and doing “Jesus stuff” for a week, but it’s really worth it. My nervousness was wholly unnecessary.
I’d like to thank Rich, Mary Alice, Sara, Gingles, Michelle, Jorge, Wallness, Bill, Aimee, David, and so many others who made my week probably one of the top 10 experiences in my life.
Montreat Youth Conference, part 1
Last week I went to the Montreat Youth Conference as an adult advisor for my church’s youth group. During the trip, I had an experience that was … well … let me just describe it.
First, a little background. I’ve written before about my experiences with the church and my departure from the church almost 20 years ago. If you don’t want to read that, here’s a summary: very involved as a youth (deacon, Synod YAD, church camp), in college a few things happened and I left the church completely. I began searching for a congregation related to my return to church just about 3 years ago this month, and joined my current congregation later that fall. I’m currently serving as a youth advisor for the Sr. High youth group, co-chairing a committee, and I’m about to start serving as a deacon again.
During Monday night’s worship at Montreat, the song “Here I Am, Lord” was sung. This song was very popular at Camp Johnsonburg when I was working there, and I was happy to sing it again.
Around about the 2nd verse, I started getting very emotional and tearing up. Around about the 3rd verse, I started to get a picture in my head – one that I can’t claim came from me.
The picture showed something of a timeline. Over on the left side, there was a dark black line that represented my religious involvement of the past – from about age 13 to age 19. On the right side, there was another shorter dark black line that represented my religious involvement of the past few years. There was a big blank space in between. As we sang, I saw the picture of a jumper wire (almost like a car’s jumper cable, but more like something used in electronics work) connecting the two lines. I have been considering my religious life of the past to be different from the present. I believe that the message here is that they are part of a single whole and remain connected.
So I was standing there, singing, tears in my eyes, and a picture in my head that I didn’t put there.
In my mind, this was a full-on Religious Experience. Maybe even a Vision. I mean … if there had been a shaft of sunlight and Baptist dancers flying through the air I’d be a Blues Brother now. It was a really weird experience.
I’ve been skeptical of those who claim to have visions or have other divinely-inspired events in their lives. Not anymore. I think I get it now. A later discussion with a family member produced that person’s story of a similar experience.
At the time that this happened, I had no idea what it meant. I’m still not sure that I do.
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The first thing that I did was ask my youth director to join me at The Huck for some ice cream so that I could talk about this (and another youth joined us for “Introvert Time”). On the way we met Jorge Gonzales who was doing music for the week and I got a chance to thank him.
Later in the week I might have gotten some idea of the meaning behind this.
All youth and adults participating in small groups were assigned to a Small Group of about 30 people. Those groups were broken down into smaller “Threshold” groups of about 6. I got an opportunity to talk about this experience with my Threshold Group, but due to time constraints I barely got through the story before we had to move onto something else.
The theme for the week was “Throw Open the Doors”. There were door metaphors tossed around during all activities. On Friday (the last day of the conference), our Small Group leader asked “what doors have opened for you this week?” I had a few ideas in my head, and the one that I chose was: Don’t let the experiences of the past (meaning negative ones) color your view of your experiences of the present. When I said that the Small Group said things like, “Dude. That’s not just a door – that’s like a big gate or something.”
Later that evening we had the closing worship. The preacher was Michelle Thomas-Bush (who I met through this blog). She told a story about her 20th high school reunion. At the reunion she met a man who had been in school with her. He explained that he couldn’t remember anything about his high school experience at all. He was being abused by his parents at the time, and all of his memories of that period are one big black mess. He came to the reunion in order to rediscover his high school memories. He was the life of the party, talked to everybody, and learned a few things. At the end of the evening he talked to Michelle again. She asked him if he’d learned anything. He reported a few memories of good times and stupid high school tricks, but his main message was that this night was his New High School Memory.
Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so too.
I’m still working on how to apply these revelations to my life, though the implications for my church life are pretty obvious. Back in December, I wrote this about how those once hurt by the church may keep looking over their shoulder for trouble to come again. I think that part of the message is clear – stop looking over your shoulder. We’ll see. Being a Christian is hard.
As for the rest, that is not quite apparent yet. More in the next post on the conference.
OH. Hmmm.
This weekend, I’m off with 3 other adults, 2 college students, and something like 8 or so high school youth to the Montreat Youth Conference (week VI) at the Montreat Conference Center in (you guessed it) Montreat, NC.
I’ve been a little nervous about this trip. So much so that I think I’m annoying our youth director with questions, which he is patiently answering. I don’t have any good reason to be nervous. I trust the youth director and the other adults going on the trip. The college students and youth going on the trip are great and I expect fewer than average problems with them or their behavior (as compared to what I read on Youth Ministry websites). I’ve heard nothing but good things about the place and the conference from a large number of people.
I’ve been telling myself that the reason that I’m nervous is that the last time I went to a church youth conference was the Youth Triennium in 1986 – when I WAS a youth. That I was just worried about whether the 40-year-old air-conditioning-loving, out-of-shape, used-to-sleeping-in-his-own-room me could keep up.
While shaving this morning it hit me.
Triennium wasn’t the last time I went to a church youth conference.
Several months after Triennium, I went to a weekend retreat sponsored by some of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s NJ chapters. Here’s what I wrote about that previously:
Back in 1986, I was a freshman at Rutgers University. On the first day, I was wandering around campus looking at the booths that various student organizations had set up. One of them near the Busch Student Center was for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. They were giving away ice cream. I figured that as a rather religious person (at this point I was already a deacon and serving on two Synod committees) I should take a look and find a campus christian fellowship. The local Campus Crusade for Christ seemed too fundamentalist for me, so I tried out InterVarsity.
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In October I took a retreat with them for a weekend in the woods. It turned out to be a very cult-like situation for me. The 48-hour retreat turned out to be (as experienced by me) 24 hours of telling me
how terrible my beliefs are, and then once I stopped fighting them, 24 hours of pouring in their own beliefs. As expected, those beliefs were strongly conservative.Fortunately, my personality turned out to be strong enough to resist such tactics. I made the right noises and they stopped treating me as the “resisting” attendee and moved on to other people. Once I returned to campus, I never went back to their group again. And as I wrote before, this was the first step in my turn away from the church
This hit me like a ton of bricks today. My last experience traveling away with youth to a place foreign to me was a negative one. While I’ve done some overnights with the youth in the past year, those were either at the church or at Camp Johnsonburg where I felt very comfortable and always knew that I had the ability to leave (since it was at home or I was driving my vehicle). I wasn’t miles away from home without control over my movements.
Having realized what has been going on in my head, I feel much more comfortable now. I’m shifting rapidly from nervous to excited. This is going to be fun!
It’s amazing how things from your past can influence the way you perceive the present. Not a new lesson for me (by a long shot), but a newly reinforced lesson.
If you or anybody you know will be at Montreat for 7/27-8/1, leave a comment or send an e-mail. I’d love to say Hi.
What’s going on
My blog has been quiet, and light on what’s going on in my life. Most of that is due to the Sword of Damocles question about what I should write here. (By the way, more input is desired in the Bible Study on blogging.)
Here’s a short roundup of what’s been happening and what is going to be happening.
- Car Accident – This happened back on June 20. As I said before – minor damage and no injuries. My car has been repaired. I’m apparently at the beginning of the subrogation process – my insurance company has decided that I’m not at fault and has submitted a claim to the other driver’s company. The other driver got a ticket for Careless Driving, so it should be an easy decision in my favor.
- DirecTV – I have two DirecTV DVRs. One of them developed hard drive problems and was randomly rebooting. That has since been replaced for what amounts to Free. It was just a pain, but much less of a pain than expected.
- Deacon – I perform my first deacon duty this weekend. I’ll be putting juice and iced tea on the table in Fellowship Hall after the service. As one other blogger said, “They also serve who stir and pour.” I’ll be greeting in August, and Officer Training and Installation will be in September.
- Camp Johnsonburg – I’ve assisted twice with Sunday check-in. Once I was a medical check person for the “no medication” line, and the other time I managed the medical form paperwork process (an all-paper process that is a bit labor-intensive for 200+ campers). I was pleasantly surprised to run into one of my youth group members checking into the camp’s Leadership Training Program (a 3-week program that is essentially Counselor training). I’ll be back again in August for one more Sunday.
- Youth Group – I drove the youth mission trip to and from Philadelphia where they stayed at and worked with Broad Street Ministries. By all reports a good time was had by all and several report transformational experiences. I’ll be going with the youth group trip to Montreat for the Youth Conference (week VI) starting next weekend. I’m a smidge nervous about that – the last time I did a week road trip with a bunch of youth was my trip to the Presbyterian Youth Triennium in 1986, when I was a youth. I’m hoping that a mostly out of shape 40-year-old can keep up.
- Birthday – it was quiet, which is the desired result. I didn’t ask for much, and the presents that I received were thoughtful. I got a lot of cards with old people on them for some reason …
- Ham Radio – I participated in the national Field Day at the end of June. I was only able to help set up in the morning and operate for a few hours in the afternoon. This event is when amateur radio clubs and individuals all over the country set up their equipment in the field (we were at Mercer County Park) and demonstrate their ability to operate in an emergency.
- Home, Wife, Cats – all about as good as usual.
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Blogging will be non-existent between July 25 and August 3 or so due to the youth trip. It may be light until then, unless I think of something compelling to say.
Young Adult – not anymore
Next week, I have a birthday. This birthday ends in a zero, and puts me at the upper limit of what the PC(USA) denomination considers a “young adult”.
(Note – this is not a call for well wishes or gifts. However, my e-mail address is in the column on the left if you are so inclined. 🙂 )
Carolyn and I are in a strange spot. We are childless by choice, and at that age where most of our friends are having children (or in some cases have children as old as teenagers). We don’t quite fit in the world of folks “our age”, because we aren’t sharing the same experiences.
At the same time, we’re not finding that we have a ton in common with the folks who are behind us in years but also childless. These are the true young adults – the not-yet-married, the under-40-not-gonna-get-married, and the married-without-children. Don’t get me wrong – I love my friends in this group. It’s just that I feel a little different from them. Carolyn and I have been married for over 13 years at this point – most of the young adult friends that I have aren’t married at all and those that are haven’t been married quite so long.
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I think I’ve crossed the line. I don’t feel like a young adult anymore. If we’d had children I’d probably have crossed the line at least 5 years ago. I now find myself saying and doing things that my parents used to do – I catch myself saying “Shoot. I sound like my parents”.
Each person crosses this line in their own time. I know folks over 40 who are still young adults at heart. I know folks under 30 who are no longer young adults. I just get this feeling that some time in the last 5 years, I crossed the line without noticing. I’m noticing now because there will shortly be a zero in my age.
And it’s just as it should be.
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