Several days ago I had lunch in a local cafe with one of the Catholic faithful who lives in the area, and whom I have gotten to know over the years through our common ministry. John is in his early eighties, and from our conversations appears to be quite wealthy, having been heavily invested in U.S. equity and bond markets for some 60 years. He lives frugally, however, driving a late model Chevy, not a Lexus or Mercedes, either of which he could easily afford. Anyway, in our recent conversation we were discussing how we live. John mentioned that he rarely ate much for lunch, or for dinner. “What about breakfast?” I asked. John said, “Oh, I eat a good breakfast. On Mondays and Tuesdays, my wife and I have cereal. On Wednesdays, she cooks us an omelet. On Thursdays and Fridays, cereal. On Saturdays and Sundays, we eat bacon and waffles.” Rather surprised by the scheduled meals—contrasting utterly to my style of eating—I asked, “Why follow such a strict schedule? Is it by your doing, or your wife’s? “I guess it is my way” he said. And so I asked, “Well, why do you follow such a strict schedule?” John beamed, grinning broadly, and said, “I do not like change.”
His response, and the evident delight he took in his stance and in telling it to me, caused me to wonder. Does not John know that life always involves change, whether we like it or not? He is a very good man, respectable, solid, prudent, intelligent, and still in apparently good health into his 80’s. And I realized that I do not always like changes that come into my life, but they come anyway, and often major changes come unexpectedly—as when my beloved Zoe developed cancer and died just two weeks after diagnosis. That change was very painful. No, some changes I do not like at all, but they come.
Here is the good news. John’s broad and sun-shine grin offered with the words, “I do not like change,” caused me to reflect and realize that I need not be afraid of changes coming in my life. And why not? Because I have experienced again and again how even painful and unwanted changes have provided opportunities for further growth, for good changes in my life. My confidence—even joy—is not in not liking change, but in trusting that the One we call “God” is so good and powerful that He brings good into one’s life through most painful and unwanted changes. Such indeed will be death, when you and I will experience the truth of the Apostle’s words, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Most of my worries come from fear of changes—haunting fears that bad things can happen to me. But John’s grin reminds me of the more profound truth: Despite some bad events, and seeming failures in my life, good has resulted. I do not smile because I do not like change (and have a good life as things are), but because I trust the One who keeps opening windows in my life as doors get closed. Admittedly, I am borrowing from the Dutch writer, Corrie ten Boom, who wrote words to the effect that “God never closes a door without opening a window.” In yielding to worries, one is distrusting the wisdom and goodness of God, in whom all things exist, and whose mind “steers all things through all things,” if I may quote the early Greek philosopher, Heracleitos.
Although none of us sees tomorrow, or knows what the future holds, when we worry we are failing to remember and to trust the all-good Creator. Change comes, and it may hurt--temporarily. But in and through these changes, new opportunities open up, if we will but exercise trust and lovingly press forward into the new life unfolding before us. In God alone nothing is lost, and all changes prepare for a more delightful union.
His response, and the evident delight he took in his stance and in telling it to me, caused me to wonder. Does not John know that life always involves change, whether we like it or not? He is a very good man, respectable, solid, prudent, intelligent, and still in apparently good health into his 80’s. And I realized that I do not always like changes that come into my life, but they come anyway, and often major changes come unexpectedly—as when my beloved Zoe developed cancer and died just two weeks after diagnosis. That change was very painful. No, some changes I do not like at all, but they come.
Here is the good news. John’s broad and sun-shine grin offered with the words, “I do not like change,” caused me to reflect and realize that I need not be afraid of changes coming in my life. And why not? Because I have experienced again and again how even painful and unwanted changes have provided opportunities for further growth, for good changes in my life. My confidence—even joy—is not in not liking change, but in trusting that the One we call “God” is so good and powerful that He brings good into one’s life through most painful and unwanted changes. Such indeed will be death, when you and I will experience the truth of the Apostle’s words, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Most of my worries come from fear of changes—haunting fears that bad things can happen to me. But John’s grin reminds me of the more profound truth: Despite some bad events, and seeming failures in my life, good has resulted. I do not smile because I do not like change (and have a good life as things are), but because I trust the One who keeps opening windows in my life as doors get closed. Admittedly, I am borrowing from the Dutch writer, Corrie ten Boom, who wrote words to the effect that “God never closes a door without opening a window.” In yielding to worries, one is distrusting the wisdom and goodness of God, in whom all things exist, and whose mind “steers all things through all things,” if I may quote the early Greek philosopher, Heracleitos.
Although none of us sees tomorrow, or knows what the future holds, when we worry we are failing to remember and to trust the all-good Creator. Change comes, and it may hurt--temporarily. But in and through these changes, new opportunities open up, if we will but exercise trust and lovingly press forward into the new life unfolding before us. In God alone nothing is lost, and all changes prepare for a more delightful union.
