Freshman Reflections From Belmont UniversitySample

Day 35 – Transition

For many of us, transitions on the scale of leaving home and coming to college are full of joy, excitement and anticipation. But for many of us, there’s also a fair bit of anxiety, fear and striving. The next four years are full and pivotal and we might be wondering, like Jacob, what is it that we must do to receive a blessing from God.

This is why Jacob’s story is so useful, and even perhaps encouraging, even if he seems an odd example of transitioning well. Jacob doesn’t “transition well” into any stage of his life—childhood, adulthood, marriage, parenthood, even grandparent-hood (when Jacob blesses his grandchildren, he intentionally chooses the “wrong” one to go first).

The latter part of Genesis is, if anything, a story about what a dysfunctional hero Jacob is. Jacob comes out of the womb in conflict with his brother, whom he eventually swindles. He himself is swindled by his father-in-law and he openly plays favorites among his two wives. After relying on concubines (in addition to his wives) to procreate, he openly favors one of his children among the others (who in turn sell the favored child into slavery in secret).

At no point do we encounter a pious Jacob. Rather, Jacob constantly wrestles with God. In chapter 32, Jacob literally wrestles with God (or at least with an angel of God). It’s a pivotal transitional moment in the life of a man who never ceases from striving, and Jacob walks away from it with two markers of the transition: a permanent limp and a new name. The new name is not a rejection of his past (in fact, the text continues to call him Jacob afterword). Rather, the new name symbolizes a transition rooted in a new awareness of God’s presence in his life.

This story of Jacob speaks volumes about transitions in our lives. Certainly, we should pay attention to skills and strategies that allow us to “transition well.” But Jacob reminds us that what is truly important is that we are open to God’s presence in our transitions—even if they are a bit of a struggle.

At the end of Genesis, Jacob says a remarkable thing. While blessing his grandchildren he invokes “the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this day.” These are not the pious words of a man who had it all figured out all along; rather, this is the invocation of God by someone who looked for God in the midst of every transition. May they become our words as well.

MICAH WEEDMAN
Associate University Minister & Director of Outreach