How open are you to change?
Be honest. Does change make you a little anxious?
My favorite line about change is: “The only person who likes change is a baby with a soiled diaper.”
Whether we like it or not, change is a constant dynamic of life. So, the real question is, how will we respond to, or even encourage change.
I recently attended a gathering where my assumption, based on the hype, was that those attending were going to be cutting-edge-innovative-change-agents. And while it was clear many in attendance self-affirmed that they were such, frankly I wasn’t convinced. While many railed against how things presently were, there was very little creative response or openness to change…openness to the Spirit birthing forth the “new creation”.
At the core of our Easter and post-resurrection understanding, is that life is not the same. Those of us who choose to follow the Way of Jesus will be changed. New life in Christ does that. As we hear in the second letter to the Corinthians, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” And it is not only we that are changed, but through us, we are called to be change-agents of the “new creation” in the world.
Every time I am blessed to baptize, confirm or ordain someone, my prayer is that they will be open to the Spirit birthing forth in them a new creation of new life in Christ. It is also one of the prayers I offer every morning when I ask God for strength and courage for the day. That I will face the changes and the challenges that come with it as an opportunity to be a part of the new creation that comes each day with new life in Christ.
Source: Bishop Brian Prior – Are you Ready for Something New?