By Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, Contributing Writer

Former vice president Al Gore narrated and wrote the screenplay for an Oscar-winning documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth. Unfortunately, large and small nations roundly ignored his dire warnings. An inconvenient truth is a truth that is easier to ignore than it is to address. When you look at the damage that ignorance, recalcitrance, and greed surrounding climate change are causing and costing, why did the proper authorities not change their behavior and take action? I want to move away from climate change and knock on the door of people dealing with Inconvenient Life Truths. Yes, life truths are being ignored, repressed, or not believed because the truth conveyed is too hard to hear, harder to bear—yet easier to ignore—or is it? 

Here are some Inconvenient Life Truths that may play out in real-time in different ways. Before we proceed, it is important to acknowledge that no one, no matter one’s ethnicity, belief system, education, socio-economic status, political party affiliation (or lack of the same), gender, or age, is spared from dealing with an Inconvenient Life Truth. With that said, let us take a look at the following scenarios.

• There will come a time as family members age when a child/children must become the parent and the parent becomes the child. Unfortunately, this Inconvenient Life Truth is not always recognized, welcomed, or handled well. The adult child who recognizes the reality of increased responsibility often finds it easier to shun than accept. There is also a parallel loss of autonomy experienced by the parent who ran the household and now is “reduced” to being a voyeur gazing on his or her life. When these two forces collide, it may cause isolation, stress, worry, guilt, and family dissension.

• Person A had an unhappy marriage to Person B. Person A resolved that Person B would never be granted a divorce and upheld this chosen edict for years, ignoring the Inconvenient Life Truth that they were still married while separated. Person A thought not seeking a formal divorce was the best way to exact revenge on Person B. Person A got sick and died after a short debilitating illness. Person B did not have much in life—until probate court awarded Person A’s social security, ownership of a place to live, bank savings, life insurance, and the like. Not making one’s expression known in writing through a will or trust can be costly.

• It may seem counter-intuitive to prepare for your old age while you are young, still on your grind, and want to have fun. However, the Inconvenient Life Truth is that you will be older a lot longer than you will be young, so you must resolve to find the best ways to save money for a time when you cannot generate the same level of income. In addition, there is a chance that social security may not be available for the next generation of workers. That is why it is important to own something that will appreciate. If living your best life now leaves no room for considering the implications for living your best life later, life will force you to survive on scant resources in your golden years.

• People are always waiting for the right time to begin an endeavor or take a particular action with economic, educational, or health consequences. Here is an Inconvenient Life Truth—there is no right time to get started. There is a better time for sure, but the right time (hear perfect time) is nonexistent. Meanwhile, while you are waiting (procrastinating?), there may come a time when there is not enough time to prevent your dream for yourself and your family from turning into a nightmare. Know that time is no respecter of person or situation. Time is always moving with you, around you, against you, or over you. The choice is yours.

Beloved, as stated, what makes an Inconvenient Life Truth inconvenient is the belief that it is easier to avoid a problem than to address the same. We see the world’s mess because the ‘powers that be’ did not want to address the long-term implications of climate change and lose money. So the closing question is, how should you approach handling an Inconvenient Life Truth? The answer may surprise you: it is knowing that doing nothing is actually doing something except nothing happens.

“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” Hosea 8:7

Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt is an Elder on the ministerial staff of The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York. He provides vital leadership to youth, young adults, and professionals in sacred and secular communities in New York and around the country. After serving over two decades, he retired as vice president of the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY).