This morning I decided to clear out my closet. I have tons of belts that have been hanging in there for at least two decades
But as I pulled them out to try them on, I noticed something interesting. The old ones marked “medium” felt just right for my small frame. But in the stores nowadays, that same medium would be marked extra small.
Somehow, as our belt sizes have increased, fashion designers have decided to opt for not insulting us by having us all buy Large or Extra Large belts….or jeans, or skirts, too.
So, what is now called a “medium” is now an “extra small.”
When I was married, I weighed in at just a few pounds over 100. I wore a size 5. By today’s standard, that size 5 would probably be a size 0 now.
It got me to thinking about other standards, as well.
What we now think is acceptable behavior would have been frowned on forty years ago.
Like fashion, I think we’ve simply moved the boundaries outward to include formerly taboo actions.
Courtesy is rare on the roads. Now, it seems okay to lots of people to cut others off, give them the finger, harass slow drivers.
Drug use in some states is just fine.
Abortion is a “woman’s right to choose.” (I wish they’d finished that sentence! “Choose” what?)
If I don’t want to work, no problem, the government will hand out food stamps to support my lifestyle.
We may not have been church-goers years ago, but we all had heard of David and his Goliath and Daniel in the lion’s den. We respected the Ten Commandments as Judeo-Christian standards for moral behavior.
How’s our cultural “waist size” now?
Have we simply moved the boundaries for morality outward to fit our changing sense of what is right and wrong?
Older people remember when.
But I feel for younger individuals. They don’t know a time when these wicked things occurring in our society were not the norm.
God doesn’t change. Check out what he says about morality. You may be surprised to find your “waist size” has expanded even if your belt size has stayed the same!
“I the Lord do not change. (Malachi 3:6 NIV Bible)
Oh, Dena, you’re right on! I’m concerned that when the older generations die, so will the memory of what this country was like when God and His principles were honored. The same concern extends to the erosion of our freedoms.
Thanks for an excellent post!
Beautiful analogy! Thank you! I’m so glad my God doesn’t change and depend on that with each day as our world changes!
Susan, it’s scary that it only takes one generation before we all forget! Thanks for your comment.
Robin, what a comfort that we can cling to our “Rock.”