If you find yourself somewhat in the middle this year, consider it a blessing. The middle always feels like nowhere. You are no longer just getting started, but the destination feels a long ways off. But the middle might not be so bad. Those who contentedly live out lives in the middle are at the heart of what makes a good society thrive.
In America, we hear every ilk of politician proclaim allegiance to the middle class. They know that those in the middle represent stability. Often in art and real life, those of great wealth or desperate poverty are the ones who suffer most from all manner of pathologies and tribulation. A world permeated with 24/7 one dimensional social media images and hyped-up talent shows leaves most of us feeling out of sync and stuck in the middle.
We want more. Once we get more money, safety, and privilege than needed to get by, we look for power to satisfy the hunger. If left unchecked, we think our giving and good deeds pay for the indulgences power affords. Yet you know from personal experience or from watching the demise of many powerful people of late that no amount of charitable giving, good deeds, or brilliant work covers for mistreating others because you have the power to do so. The person who gains great wealth and prestige but loses humility is no longer useful to their community or country.
The year 2017 seems to be one of reckoning for saints and sinners alike. A long list of celebrities passed on this year at Newsday includes icons like Jim Nabors, Della Reese, Mel Tillis, Fats Domino, Tom Petty, Robert Guillaume, Bill Paxton, Mary Tyler Moore, Glen Campbell, and Jerry Lewis.
Two of the most wonderful people I’ve ever had the privilege to know, Maxine Johnson and Mel Young, passed on to the other side peacefully this year. They lived exceptional but quiet lives of giving back not just with deeds but with words and thoughts. Whether you feel rich or poor as the year comes to a close, every day you have within yourself the ability to bind up wounds, make this a better place by giving a smile or a kind word of encouragement.
So I offer you this prayer for Christmas, found in Proverbs 30 among the sayings of Agur son of Jakeh, which translated means “the one who is brave in the pursuit of wisdom” (30: 7 – 9):
“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.”