As I noted last week, change isn’t something we are
necessarily enthusiastic or happy about. Sure change is nice when it involves a
new dress or hair style, but not so welcome when it demands we change lifestyle
or affects health or family. Change can be gradual or it can be sudden. Change
can be good even when it is difficult at first.
One such change I’ve recently observed is among the doves
who flock to the bird feeder in my yard. The feeder is much more ‘user
friendly’ for sparrows, however last year one dove figured out how to access
the seed. It involved laying on his/her side and balancing with a wing to peck
out a few seeds before having to fly off and made another run. The other doves
watched in amazement but never could seem to quite get the hang of how to do
it. In fact I never saw another dove even try the maneuver. I’m pretty sure it
was the same dove each time, because he/she had a distinctive wide white band
on the wing. 
Well, recently I observed the youngsters among the doves
this year are doing the exact same thing. Clearly they have learned to change
their habits and take advantage of the feeder! They are even better at it than
the first dove and several can feed at one time. (Not a terribly good photo, but you can see the doves on the feeder to the left, while others wait.) They still haven’t mastered
the finch feeder, but you can see that there are a couple, on the right, studying the options.
Isn’t it interesting that the young doves are willing and
even eager to try something the mature doves wouldn’t. I think the same can
often be said of humans. The youngsters are often more eager to try something
new, whether it is a game or technology or even sharing the Gospel. If we don’t
stifle them with do’s and don’ts, we will see the children among us living out
the truth that “a little child shall lead them.” I like the New Living
Translation of Matthew 19:14, “Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don't
stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these
children.’”
How can we be like children and like the young doves when it
comes to change and getting nourishment from the Spirit and even sharing the
Good News of the Kingdom? How can we be open to the goodness in the changes of
our life and see God’s hand in even those we might characterize as ‘bad’? (And
it is easy to say something is bad if we don’t understand it or disagree with
the change that is happening, but that’s a different topic.)
Maybe part of the answer is found in Romans 8: 18-30 in
which Paul reassures the Romans that there is nothing to be afraid of, even
though there is a lot of change and turmoil. He says, “I consider that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to
us.” Indeed, Paul says, the
entire creation is undergoing change and will ultimately be “set free from
its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children
of God.”
We don’t know how or when change and transformation will
come, but “we
hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Ultimately,
we are assured that “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according
to his purpose.” Indeed we are “predestined to be conformed to the image of
his Son, [we are]…called…justified…[and] glorified.” We are as Paul states
in 2 Corinthians “transformed into his image.”
Therefore we do not need to fear change because it
is bringing about our transformation, our redemption, our glory. Paul would
agree with Julian of Norwich who stated “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all
manner of thing shall be well.” Discovering
(or re-discovering) the courage of the young to try new things and to be open
to God’s leading should be a change we are anxious to seek. Like those young
doves, we may just discover that there are new ways of obtaining nourishment
from the Spirit that we hadn’t considered!
