Facing Change

This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds.
To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance.
A lifetime is a flash of lightning in the sky.
Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain...

Change.

No one likes it.  Everyone has to face it.

I can see Mt. Rainier from my kitchen window.  I am ever-aware of the constant presence of this monster of a mountain just as everyone is around these parts. However, it wasn't until moving into our present home that I realized how the mountain changed daily. I can honestly say that I have never seen the mountain look exactly the same two days in a row. Ever.

The beach is the same.  As I spent so much of my childhood with sand between my toes and wind in my hair, I quickly learned of the constant change that is the seashore.  Powerful, constant and persistent.  You can't stop it, for it comes in with the tide.  It takes...and it leaves.

Change.

I've been told, quite a bit recently, that change is a good thing.  And, I don't disagree, for the most part.  If you can handle the discomfort of change, or at the very least re-adjustment, it can be so beneficial.  Moving from one place to another is uncomfortable and disorganized for a bit; but once re-established, it's usually better than where you were before.  Right?

For myself, change that happens unbidden and unexpected is the hardest to deal with...for all of us, I'm sure. The death of a loved one, revelation of life-altering secrets or the manipulations of others causing unwelcome change always leaves the feeling of free-fall.  It is quickly followed by melancholy, the begrudging acceptance and a desperate attempt to reestablish footing.  No, I wouldn't categorize that as "a good thing" at first blush.  Perhaps not at second or third, either. Do we eventually get to a place where we are thankful it happened, or do we just get more used to the idea and move on?

I don't often verbalize my dislike of change, although I know a lot of folks that do.  At least they are being honest, I suppose.  The longer I live, the more I am tending to agree with them.  Oh sure, things can stagnate if there isn't an regular effort of improvement, a slow and constant movement upward. However, those changes that take us for a roller coaster ride of emotions, those are the changes that I'm not liking so much.  And then all the changes that result from the ride...I'm not so crazy about those, either.

But...
our G-d is a G-d of change.
He changes the void of nothingness into life,
the bad into good,
the broken into healed wholeness.

He is the G-d of restoration,
of reconciliation,
of resurrection.

He takes that which is unimaginable,
impossible, even...
and makes it acceptable,
doable,
possible.

He does all this through change.
He is the unchanging G-d,
who is the author of change.

A lifetime is a flash of lightning in the sky.
From darkness to light, in a flash of change.

And so we trust in this Almighty G-d of change and continue to struggle and strive to accept the changes that come upon our lives.  LORD, allow me, and all who love You, to accept the change You have ordained with grace, patience and purpose that glorifies You. Amein.