Wrong!
“I'm
sure I'm wrong about many things, although I'm not exactly sure which
things I'm wrong about. I'm even sure I'm wrong about what I think
I'm right about in a least some cases.”
Brian D.
McLaren (A Generous Orhodoxy)
In my seventh decade,
this is my challenge—to give up the need to be right. Not only to
stop thinking that I have all the answers to everything, but to
actually embrace the fact that it's okay not to know. It's like
unpacking a huge suitcase that's been stored in my attic for decades.
I don't know where all the things in it came from, or even if they
belong to me, but I know it's time to drag this bag down the attic
stairs and get rid of it. And let me tell you, it's a painful
process—because being right is the defense mechanism I'm most
comfortable with—the one I have spent my whole life adding to and
honing to a sharp point.
One of the greatest gifts
and hardest challenges of old age is coming to understand and truly accept
that in living systems, all things change—the wisdom of the 1950's
or 1970's is no longer applicable today—so it's no longer wise! We
tend to cling to the way of life we experienced during our formative
years when we were cramming our heads with education and information,
and coming up with our own answers to questions so we could be
different from our parents. If we want to know what is wise today, we
must ask some twenty year olds. And then, we must take to heart what they
tell us.
This is not an
indictment. It is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to clean out
the attic, and make room for something new. I may even lay a dance
floor up there, and learn to kick up my heels. Freedom from
“rightness” makes one feel light on their feet.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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