There is the saying that the only real constant in life is change. There is deep truth in this as painful and confusing and difficult as it might seem to we humans ones. Depending on personality and sometimes age, we mostly like things to stay the way ‘they are’ whatever that means and sometimes even if it is not too pleasing. We are ‘creatures of habit’. I say that sometimes age plays into this phenomenon but not always. We all know children who want things to happen the same way, at the same time, in the same order. There is comfort in the similar and it allows us to continue under the delusion of control, a delusion we all want to at some level grasp with white knuckles.

We were, however, birthed out of a process of change. No matter how you understand or tell the story of the Universe or where you see the human in this process, it is a story of change. To not change is to be stagnant and we all know where that leads. So, the good news is that this life, this planet, this body, this way of being, is drawn to change even when it gets there by kicking and screaming.

I have been present to much change lately and have found myself the observer of the many ways people experience change. There are those who dig their heels in and say ‘no way.’ There are those who avert their eyes and seem to hope that somehow someone will come to their senses and stop this craziness. There are those who are deep listeners, those who wait for the still, small voice that brings wisdom. There are those who talk their way through the change, waiting to hear their own voice make sense of it all. There are those who walk away and those who are motivated by the sheer energy of something new. There are the leaders and the followers doing the dance of change, sometimes changing partners mid-stream. There are the nay-sayers and the cheerleaders, the skeptics and the sages, the doers and doubters.

The truth is that in every creative approach to change we need them all. And something tells me that this is a part of the wisdom of the Greater Process that is Creation. From the beginning we have been called to change and become something new, something that has, perhaps, never been before. This happens in small daily ways and in large earth-shaking ways. But it is always in the process of happening. It is the way of Life.

Is there change for the sake of change? Probably. Perhaps there is gift in that if nothing more than a cure for boredom. But Reinhold Niebuhr, the great 20th century theologian, offered this wisdom about change that has become the prayer for our brothers and sisters in recovery: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Serenity. For all those who are being pushed by change this day in ways that cause pain and despair….serenity. For all those who are being pulled by change that stirs spirit and creative juices this day….serenity. For all those who are straddling the fence posts of change this day wavering,wondering……serenity. For all those filled to overflowing with desire and passion for change….serenity.

Change. Wisdom. Serenity. May these deep words hold us all.