A few weeks ago, I turned in my keys to the football facility. Yesterday, I removed my campus parking sticker. For the first time in nine years I am not on the sideline for Campbell football’s preseason camp. For the first time in nine years, I will not be starting classes this fall. If I am honest, I am not sad. I am actually quite ready to move on from a place that has given me so much.
Moving on is a part of life. As we grow older, we leave behind memories, moments, and monuments. Memories of good times and bad, moments of pain and of joy, monumental and life changing seasons.
Some moments we never want to leave, and some places are a part of our heartbeat. Some people have given us hope, unwavering support, and steadfast love. We could never imagine moving on from them.
Other moments, relationships, and seasons we cannot escape quickly enough. Our hearts have been stressed to the max and we are close to flatlining. The thought of moving on is our only source of hope.
One day we will move on.
We will move on, right?
Moving on is what we are supposed to do.
Moving on is what people tell us to do.
Moving on is normal.
But moving on is not easy, it is painful, and does not always seem necessary.
So why does our culture, our community, our friends, and even sometimes our family constantly suggest we move on, or hope we move on?
I was listening to a podcast today. The speaker had experienced catastrophic event after catastrophic event. Yet, she was tired of being told to move on. She was tired of being told moving on was natural and that it would occur for her someday. She was tired of the expectation that people move on.
Is it really fair to expect people to move on?
The speaker eloquently proposed that people do not always move on, but they can move forward.
We, as a society, need to hear that. I needed to hear that.
What if we are not always moving on, but instead, we are steadily moving forward?
At our own pace, we march into the future carrying things we have not moved on from.
I do not want to leave behind some of the friends, memories, and moments I have experienced over my lifetime. Similarly, people cannot expect me to fully leave behind the things that have wounded me.
I need both the good and the bad.
We need the good and the bad of our lives.
I cannot help but to think of the Last Supper.You know, the one where Jesus and his friends gathered on one side of the table for a photo-op? Jesus grabbed a loaf of bread and broke it in half and told everyone it was his body. After that, he grabbed an adult beverage and said, “This is my blood poured out for the new covenant.” All of this is a big deal in the Christian faith.
This is a perfect example of the good and the bad. A beautiful community comes together in fellowship. Yet, this will be their last meal together as someone will betray Jesus. Everyone will want to remember this moment.
What are your moments? Who are your people? Do you need to move on?
Just move forward.
Take the joy, laughter, support, friendship, love, encouragement, and memories.
Remember the pain, hopelessness, loneliness, lack of self-worth, and difficult moments.
Carry them with you. Spend time unpacking them. It is okay to review them. It is okay to pause because sometimes in order to continue to move forward we need to pause and work through our past.
If you feel the pressure to get over something, or question if you can, remember how many times bread has been broken since the Last Supper.
We pause and remember, but continue to move forward and break bread, again and again.
You can do this. We can do this.
Amen.