This week has been a rough week in many respects. What I wish could remain the same is changing and what is staying the status quo needs to be redirected. This, I have been told, is life and we have got to roll with what comes. This is awfully tough going when you are in the midst of a "chaotic swirl". I personally and much more adverse to change than about anything else. Granted, there are some things I embrace change for... each person has things that they would like to change... but the good things in life are often the things that change the most. Growing older often in a root cause of this... leaving some activities behind to make room for new ones can be like pulling glass from your eye. You know that this can help you but somehow, you would rather leave things the way they are than change anymore because you can't really be sure of how much the metamorphosis process will hurt and a dull ache is better than the sting of a water blast in your face.
Take two "pop culture" examples of change. The first is something I encountered today. On a "medical mystery" show or whatever you might call it, a patient comes in with really bad stomach pain, Xrays are taken and low and behold, he had swallowed some razor blades while drunk. This guy also happened to be a veteran who had been through a lot of combat and a lot more surgeries and thus, upon gaining the news that the razor blades could puncture his system if they weren't removed, he said "I'll just wait and see if they pass... It could turn out alright and I am willing to take the chance". First thought you might have is "what an idiot" and that is what the ER doctor said... but when you look beneath the surface, you see that this isn't so dumb. Whats a bit of razor blades when you have been through war, loosing friends, and having your body cut open multiple times to repair your innards. Change can be more painful and scary than just waiting it out.
Second is one of my all-time favorite quotes EVER. It is from the TV show, Everwood. Ephram Brown, main character, is asked to write about his fatal flaw and he chooses his inability to change. I won't post the whole thing here but look it up if you have a chance. He goes through all the ways that change is being resisted on the show (in a subtle way while scenes flash behind his monologue) and then ends with this (paraphrased): finally, the pressure builds so much that we are forced to change and then we recoil, hoping we will never have to change again". This is how a lot of people take change and the way I sometimes wish I could deal with it as well.
While we are dealing with this dark "valley point" we wish we could climb back up the mountain to our "Mountain Top" experiences... where we wish we could stay forever... but eventually we gotta climb down. Luckily, many of us are blessed with friends (and amazing family) and that is what I have found this week. 1 John 1:7 says "But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin". The part of this verse that really sticks out when I read it is "we have fellowship with one another"! Wow... and I have found this to be so true this week. The faith that my friends and family have shared with me to uplift me in these seemingly "sucky" times. We are able to remind each other of God's promises for us and able to have such a deeper impact on each other's lives. Without this sharing point, the advise and comfort would be slightly diminished from my vantage. Thank you, God, for allowing fellowship in your light and opening my eyes to the blessings I have in my friends and family! Amen
