Change

By Pastor Paul Gauche

Today’s Word: Change as in… change happens all the time.

We know that because we can see it: our address changes, we move from one house to another, from one town to another city. One school year ends with graduations, and as summer makes a turn toward the Fall, some students gear up to move on to college in another city, another state, or even another country. A colleague announces a change. Resignation and retirement make possible the next great adventure. A name on an office door is removed, and, in time, another name replaces it.

These are all changes, and changes happen all the time. But changes are not transitions. Changes are the physical, tangible movements that are exterior; they happen on the outside. Transitions, on the other hand, are the emotional, intangible momentums that are interior, that take place on the inside. When a beloved friend and colleague announces a resignation, the inner work of transition begins. We ask, “What does this mean?” The ancient Israelite community experienced a change when they left Egypt. But they didn’t just move into new tents in another community. They themselves became a living, breathing community that moved into the time in-between time. Wilderness is a good name for what happens in the time in-between time.

As we move through the Wilderness of change and transition, let’s keep in mind two essential truths. First, moving from the comfort of what was into the Wilderness of what is and then on toward the promise of what will be is seldom a place of comfort and will always take a significant amount of courage. Secondly, and perhaps far more importantly, the journey through the Wilderness is also often a place of extravagant beauty and life-enriching experience.

Tending to the interior of our hearts, minds, and lives while we move into change and navigate through transitions is the essential work that we all do together. This work cannot be hurried, manipulated, or even skipped. We don’t get to go around it. We get to go through it. And we are never alone. That’s the promise.

#100days50words

Paul Gauche is the Pastor of Life Transitions at Prince of Peace. His posts are part of his #100days50words project, where he blogs about a different word each week. You can follow his project on Instagram (@pgauche) or his blog, Thriving Rhythms.