Change is in the Air

Hard to believe we have reached the end of summer. Even though the start of fall is a couple weeks away, Labor Day really seems to mark the end of summer activities. In fact, most schools are already back in session. Some have been for weeks.

The slight difference in temperature and the resumption of activities and shortening days all signal to our bodies that change is around the corner. The new school year brings with it change. There are new teachers, new books, new friends… For some it means a new school. When I was growing up we moved a lot and very often the new school year meant a new town and entirely new set of friends to meet.

Even if we aren’t in school, September is the start and resumption of many church programs that have taken a summer break. In the workplace, fall means that people are back from vacation and work that might have been a bit more laid back for a couple of months, is now back in full swing. There may be new projects starting up and perhaps even new co-workers.

Even the plants and trees are changing. There’s a last burst of blooms and as the days get cooler, the leaves change color and will soon start falling off the trees. The cooler temperatures may allow us more energy now that the summer heat isn’t sapping it from us.

It all means that there is change happening. Change…not something very many of us are comfortable with. Yet change is the only constant in life. From birth to death we are changing. Recently I read a meditation that helped put change into the framework of God.

“Every single encounter with God
Holds the promise of
A new direction;
A new perspective;
A change of heart and mind.

Go now resolved that your life will be
Different;
Transformed;
Made over again
By the overwhelming grace of God.”

It was a helpful reminder of the fact that all change is in the hand of God. Moreover, all life is an encounter with God. So, it follows, that day-by-day we are changed, transformed, renewed by the “overwhelming grace of God”. That puts change in a whole new light. We are indeed as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

The first part of that verse says “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory…” To me that is a promise that we encounter God in every moment and, unlike Moses, we don’t have to veil our face to be with God or when we come from God’s presence. We meet God in all things and in those encounters we are changed and then we change the world.

For the next few weeks we’ll explore some aspects of change. Come and see what changes you might experience.