life is full of changes. we cannot escape them. when we moved from our home of thirty-plus years to a new town, our lives changed in many ways. we were excited about the change at the time of our move. now what seemed so different is our new normal. we went from living in a medium-sized city with many shopping, dining, and cultural opportunities to the slower pace of a small town that lacked many of the amenities that we were accustomed to. we still miss our former home, but there are advantages to our new home, such as the natural beauty that surrounds us and becoming acquainted with new friends.
we've seen the pastor of our church retire and a new pastor take his place. the coming of the new minister completely changed the pattern of the church's worship and the focus of the church's mission to something that feels alien and disconcerting to us. in a short period, our church has gone from being a place where we felt at ease to something very foreign to us. now we feel alienated from the church we thought would be our spiritual home for the rest of our lives. another church we thought might be a better fit for us is going through some wrenching changes that make us question whether we want to be a part of it or not. now we feel adrift from our spiritual roots, wondering if we will ever find a church where we seem to belong.
our children are facing changes in their lives as well. our daughter is questioning whether the career to which she has devoted her life is the right one for her because of the changes the covid pandemic has forced on the way her job is performed. our son is devoting many of his free hours to developing new skills that will lead to a new career for him, one that will be radically different from his present job. both of them may soon find themselves in changed positions with new challenges. they are both optimistic and fearful about the possibility of leaving jobs to which they have become accustomed to venture down new paths.
many of the changes in our lives are beyond our control. we endure rising prices because of the supply chain and labor market difficulties brought on by the pandemic. we are forced to take precautions that are alien to us to prevent infection from the covid virus. others changes are of our choosing, such as our move to a new home and a new town or our children's looking forward to the possibility of new careers. those changes that we have some degree of control over and which are the result of our own decisions are often easier to deal with. even though they may cause us some discomfort, we usually regard them optimistically. those that are forced on us are harder. we stress over them. we rail against them. in the end, we must accept them or find ways around them. whatever our attitude toward a particular change, change comes to us, and we must choose how we deal with that change.
may we find the wisdom and strength to accept change as an inevitable part of life. may we consider how we will deal with change. will we develop strategies to ward off an unwanted change? will we consider the positive aspects of some change that comes to us, or will we see only the negatives? may we be at peace with change that comes our way, regardless of how we choose to regard it. shalom.
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