Change....

...and no, I'm not referring to the jingling articles in your car's ash tray :). Its this dynamic little thing that follows and preceeds our lives. Most of us have heard the saying, "The only constant thing in life is change." Our constant companion, it shifts the sands of our lives issuing the challenge, can you shift with me?

As a child, change is often viewed as exciting, the chance for new adventures, new friends, new likes/dislikes, new territory to explore, new places to explore, new and exciting things to learn, etc. Yet, as we grow older, we tend to focus less on the 'glass-is-half-full-perspective' and more on the 'glass-is-half-empty-perspective,' especially if one buys into the lie that the lives of everyone else are changing for the better while theirs changes only for the worse.

Take for instance, the change one experiences when their best friend marries and they remain single, or a dearly-loved friend/relative/spouse passes away while they are left to manage a life without them, a close friend(s) moves away or leaves the faith they once held so dear leaving another to mentally re-arrange this relationship and balance it and its suddenly new dimensions, the breaking off of a romantic relationship or distancing one's self from a 'friend' who is becoming too attached leaving in its wake (for both parties) the numerous negotiations of this altered relationship, the altercation that arises out of realizing that firmly held ideas/definitions/assumptions are horrendously inept thus forcing a re-alignment and re-focusing of beleifs, and the list could go on and on.

Within this moment of change, the space of time in which an individual comes face to face with this new color of the spectrum brought forth by the rotation of this diamond, their is a decision made to either allow the death of the former as well as what could be the future or seek out the paradigm existance of new found territory.

I am especially reminded of one particular instance in my life where drastic change was no longer an option to revive a very dear relationship in my life. It had gone past needing change, it had gone dormant and now necessitated life. This resusitation did not come about by a purposefully constructed reunion or by a heart to heart talk or by an apology for past hurts. No, it arose again by the power of The Creator. The vast chasm that had pushed the lives of this dear friend and I apart was so wide I was incapable of fathoming the construction of a bridge to reunite us, though I thought and pondered on it often. It did not come about through such logical construction either. The chasm was not only bridged but filled in and healed with fresh growing grass and beauty in one alter service on a Sunday night when the one friend of mine that sees me as clearly as a friend may be seen, flaws and all, and still loves me, came to stand by my side during a time when I felt, at any moment, that I would split in two due to a horrendous amount of change I was going through in another area of my life.

A turning of the tables, though it may seem like its turning will upend and spill the contents of you life's board game all across the floor may actually be the propelling force that injects an altercation that is your saving grace. I sometimes wonder at this reunion, at the circumstances surrounding it, at the wholeness with which I felt our friendship restored to. This change, the re-instating of our friendship, was a key element that strengthened me to not only survive but thrive within the other changing situation I mentioned.

The retort we must issue back to change's challenge of, "Can you survive me?" is, "It is not a matter of can I, rather a matter of I must, and I will, according to His will."

P.S. To my friend (you know who you are :D) thank you for being my iron, I hope I am as solid and as strong for you.