Arts Legend Melba Moore Receives Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award
By Rev. Dr. Lakeya Stewart
Ink Spot Contributing Writer
Lately, I have found myself grieving the loss of some old friendships. Most of the friendships involve my friends from college and childhood. I hold special memories in my heart concerning each of these friends from the past and now I am grieving. I miss those moments. Recently, I found myself projecting my expectations of former friends onto my new friends. You see, the relationships that are currently fruitful do not possess the same qualities that I use to see in my old friends. Life has happened and I have changed as a person. I was looking for new life to come from dead relationships.
The book of Luke chapter 24 asks the question, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Now, many people hear this passage seasonally when the death of Christ is most often studied. If you would allow me to use a bit of creative license here, I have been giving this question and the general idea of this some thought.
As I reflect on this thought I realize that anything dead ought to be buried. A flourishing life with Christ has no time for dead things. Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly. In a nutshell, relationships have seasons. The old cliché says, people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. We must use wisdom and know when the seasons have changed and when people are no longer assets in our lives.
Sometimes old friendships must end for new friendships to begin. I am reminded of the metamorphosis of a butterfly. The lifespan of a caterpillar must end before it can transform into a butterfly. Without the transformation, the caterpillar would have its growth stunted and it could not move onto become the beautiful creation God intended it to be.
My challenge to you is to consider not resurrecting dead situations and people who have negatively impacted you previously. We can all identify relationships and people that used to be in our lives and who never meant to do us any good. I call these relationships zombie relationships. These relationships appear to have life but have been dead for some time. As I stated earlier, anything that is dead ought to be buried. I leave you with this question: Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Be blessed.