Changes

Life is full of changes.  Daily we deal with new things that we each have to adjust to.  One old sage said, "the only thing that never changes is change."  It's a funny saying, but profound.

For me change has happened a lot in the last year.  We have sold our home and moved into a much smaller apartment.  It seems it was time for this change.

We gave away a lot of our possessions as we downsized and felt lighter for the task.  It was cleansing, the release of a weight to rid our lives of so many things.  Now our lives fit into three rooms.  We have found great joy in the simplicity of living with little.

I am also finding a change in what I have been doing.  I've left the pastoral work and after a time of searching found a wonderful company where I serve as a hospice chaplain.  It's a great fit for my gifts.  Now, on a daily basis, I'm dealing with real changes in the lives of others as they pass from this life to the next.

Now change is part of every moment of my life.  

I'm aware, more than I ever have been, of how loosely we must hold this life.  We are only here for moments and then life is over.  As I meet with those finishing life and visit with the ones they leave behind I'm brought face to face with our mortality.  Life is short!

And that reality changes something else for me.  It makes me look at my life differently.  My goals don't really matter.  My dreams are all just illusions. My accomplishments, whatever they may be, add up to little.  All that really matters in the end is this-  do you know the one who made you?

In a life full of change I'm discovering how important it is to have one thing, one person who never changes and that's the Lord of creation.  As the world changes around me with a speed that takes my breath away I can look to one who never changes and find my center, my hope, my "true north" and stabilize my chaos.

Changes are part of life.  In the midst of the changes all around me I am more keenly aware of my wonderful and faithful God who never changes.