The Cost of Change

Although change is necessary component of the human existence it, most often, is not easy. Change means a departure from that which we "know" in an effort to discover that which we have no concrete experience of. Many of us want to see changes in our lives, yet change threatens our sense of security; security not in what is necessarily "best" for us, but rather security in what is familiar.

French writer Anatole France wrote: "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another".

Jesus called his disciples to pursue change when he told a group of fishermen, "come and follow me". The scriptures go on to say, "at once they left their nets and followed him". These fishermen were willing to set aside their way, for a new way after Jesus.

This is not a one-time call for discipleship, but a continual moment-by-moment decision we are faced with; to lay down our way for the way of Christ. It is only through laying down our old life that we may experience the working change of Jesus in our life and in this world....but are we willing?

What makes it difficult for you to let go of your old ways? How might God want to bring change to your life? What do you have to "die to" to usher in that change?

Capable of Change ("Man's Search For Meaning" pt. 2)

There is always the hope that some how we can change as human beings, that we can become better people regardless of the circumstances that seek to oppress and limit our capabilities.

The hope here is not that we may become better people for our own good or benefit, but that our change might lead to the change we hope to see in this world. In "Man's Search For Meaning" Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl writes:

"...man is ultimately self determining. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant...one of the main features of human existence is the capacity to rise above such conditions, to grow beyond them. Man is capable of changing the world for the better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary."