JACKSON — Think about your greatest strength. It is also your greatest weakness. Like two sides of a coin, your greatest asset is simultaneously your greatest liability.
My greatest strength is my drive and competence. I’m always planning for tomorrow. It’s also my greatest weakness, driving away those I love through my demands and criticism. By living in my future goals, I sacrifice the moment and undermine trust in God.
My wife’s greatest strength is her love, kindness and ability to enjoy the moment. It is also her greatest weakness when she enables instead of holding others accountable. The future does not always take care of itself.
If you take an honest assessment of your own personality, you will find this to be true and enlightening.
Mississippi’s greatest strength is its love of history, sense of roots and respect for its unique traditions. No other state has less geographic mobility than Mississippi. This is our home, we love it here, we respect our ancestors who paved the way. I love this about Mississippi.
But our respect for tradition has also been our greatest weakness. It makes us cling to the past when clinging to the past no longer makes sense. Sometimes, we make an idol of tradition.
This is what we did by clinging to the Confederate battle emblem on our state flag. We made an idol of tradition when it no longer made sense. It made us an embarrassment to the rest of the nation. What was simply devotion to tradition to us, looked like the embrace of a terrorist symbol to others. It was time to change.
Well, lo and behold, we did. Praise the Lord, we can learn and move on. The state legislature did the right thing and voted to change our flag. Will miracles never cease?
As far as deep Mississippi roots and tradition go, I’ll match my family’s Mississippi ancestry against anybody’s. My children are seventh-generation Mississippians 28 times over. Twenty-eight of their 32 great-great-great-grandparents were Mississippians. Dozens of our ancestors died in the War Between the States. Our blood runs very deep in this state. I was born here. I will die here. It could be no other way for me.
Like most Mississippians, I was initially appalled at the idea of changing our flag. But over time and through reflection, my opinion changed. As a Christian, the Holy Spirit worked in me and made me realize how the Confederate battle emblem could be seen by our African American brothers and sisters as a symbol of hate and subjugation.
It is that same Holy Spirt that was at work this past weekend in the state legislature, when miraculously our representatives voted overwhelmingly to change the flag. It just goes to show. People can change. With God, nothing is impossible.
I give Speaker of the House Philip Gunn credit for early on advocating changing the flag. I give Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann credit for changing the attitude in the state senate. When Gov. Tate Reeves declared he would not veto such a bill, the floodgates opened. We can all change.
I give Scott Waller and the board of the Mississippi Economic Council credit for gathering dozens of powerful signatures on an ad calling for change. I give Mississippi editorial writers, what few that remain, credit for numerous editorials calling for change. I give credit to numerous organizations and associations that mustered the courage to call for change. I give credit to thousands of individuals who spoke out publicly for change.
Just please remember, we were all just agents through which the Holy Spirit did its work. God gets all the power and glory.
We should not fear change. We should embrace it. Although change may seem scary and even threatening, God is the ultimate change agent. Our job is to remain faithful and work as hard as providence allows.
Don’t fear. Stay faithful. Embrace change.
Wyatt Emmerich is editor and publisher of The Northside Sun in Jackson and president of Emmerich Newspapers.
