James Taylor and My Identity Crisis

 

I recently had a kind of cultural identity crisis.

Because of a song snippet that came tumbling out of my mouth, I discovered a twenty-something co-worker of mine has no idea who James Taylor is. So I strolled over to a thirty-something co-worker and said, "Guess what. Twenty-something Gal doesn't know who James Taylor is."

To which, Mr. Thirty-something replied, "Who?"

So I clarified, "Twenty-something Gal...right there."

Only to be gobsmacked by hearing, "No...I mean who is James Taylor?"

"You know...'Fire and Rain,' 'You've Got a Friend,' 'How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You'?"

Nothing but blank stares.

When I told all this to Beloved, she pointed out that those songs are all around 50 years old and asked how many songs from the 20s did I know when I was in MY twenties?

So I did a little research and found out she was spot on.

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There is a pastoral application for this. When I'm talking to an individual with little to no church background, or addressing a group that could very well include such individuals, if I say something like "You know, it's like in the parable of the sheep and the goats," I could very well be met with blank stares.

Truth is...Never assume everyone knows what you know or has experienced what you have experienced.