Dear Friends,

     I’m probably in good company when I say I do not like change.  But most of us have lived long enough to realize that change is just part of life.  Of course, there are good changes:  the birth of a child is a most often a welcome change in a family.  A job promotion is received as a positive thing, as is the long-awaited retirement cause for celebration.  Sometimes
heart-breaking situations bring positive changes – like divorce or the sudden turn of events that leads to a deeper faith or the adoption of healthier priorities.  More often than not, however, we think of change in negative terms: the death of a dear one, the last child leaving the nest, the loss of employment, “surrendering” one’s driver’s license and the loss of independence, the cancer diagnosis, and yes, the departure of the pastor from the church (for some, that might go under good changes).  But whether or not the change centers around negative or positive circumstances, change is change and brings with it some common responses… even opportunities.

I like to “play” with words, so I recently found myself creating an acrostic with the word changes.  Consider this:

CHANGES


C – challenge

The new child, the new job, the divorce, the loss of a dear one, the search for a new pastor – these all present challenges. Challenges are lessened when shared with others – when we ask for and receive assistance.  We need each other. We benefit from community and connections (oh, more C words).


H – hope

In good times or in our struggles, we need to hang onto hope for the future – the (re)assurance that it (whatever “it” is) will be okay.  As people of faith, aren’t we in the “business” of finding and sharing reasons to hope?


A – adaptation

I don’t know who said it, but “Life is a series of adaptations.”  If we don’t adapt to the change in our midst, we will cease to live life to its fullest.  My friend had a dog who lost one of his hind legs… he learned to run on three.


N – navigation

We fix a course for the journey ahead… we make a plan, set new goals.

Take it a step at a time.   It’s okay to look back and honor the past, but we can’t move forward looking in our rear-view mirror.


G – God

Whatever the circumstance, God is in it.  God is present.  In the birth of a child, in the retirement, in the divorce, in the grief, in the struggle, in the new level of (in)dependence, in the chemo treatments… in the change.  God abides.


E – energy, emotion

Coping with change requires energy.  Ask the new parents who are up half the night with a new baby – or the parents of a teen who’s out past curfew – or the woman who’s now a single mom.  Ask the recently widowed.  Ask the person starting a new job.  Ask the elder who’s just moved into assisted living.  Change requires so much energy, mostly because of the gamut of emotions that these changes bring about.  So honor the emotions.  If it’s joy – celebrate.  If it’s grief, cry.  And above all else, remember Jesus’ words, “Do not fear.”


S – Spirit

In the creation story at the beginning of Genesis, it says that the Spirit moved above the waters, bringing order to chaos.  Change often produces chaos.  But change is also the gateway to new beginnings.  Trust the Spirit of God to usher
in something new.


Blessings abound!

Marcia