Life That Never Stays the Same

Another blog friend’s reflections about her wedding day 15 years ago compared with her anniversary day yesterday made me think about change in my own life. When I chose the name for this blog, I had in mind that what I write here would reflect growth and change. I hope I don’t view life through the same set of lenses today as I did a year ago or as I will a year from now.

There is one thing, though, about that, that nags: sameness is comfortable. It’s the comfort of the perfectly broken-in pair of shoes. It’s the reason we notice a stain on an otherwise plain white shirt. It’s why a lot of us thrive on routine and feel ill-at-ease when it is interrupted. Symmetry’s appeal is based in the settledness we feel from sameness.

On the other hand: Flower arrangers know that the odd number of blooms has eye appeal. Photographers follow the rule of thirds. We praise as a page-turner the book whose every chapter leaves us in limbo. Anticipation gives us goosebumps because of the unknown and uncertainty that lies ahead (I don’t know if that is the physiological reason, but…).

I guess it is the human condition, this tension between desiring the settledness of sameness but not wanting things to stay the same. We are made to grow and change. Grow or die, use it or lose it, get better or get bitter. We’ve compressed the notion into compact phrases.

I want the results but I don’t always want the discomfort. One thing that has changed as I have changed is my understanding of what–actually Who–never changes. The writer to the Hebrews in the New Testament of the Bible states without apology or even much explanation the plain truth: “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today,and forever.” That has become very real to me as I am whirled and tossed by the ever-changingness of life. It is like being in the permanent eye of the hurricane–no dread necessary if I know it will not end. “The storm may roar without me, my heart may low be laid, but God is round about me, and can I be dismayed?” (from “In Heavenly Love Abiding” by Anna L. Waring)