JUST A THOUGHT OR TWO...

Pastor Mark sent the staff this quotation from the book Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less by David Browning:  "There is no growth without change, no change without loss, and no loss without pain."  I’m hoping that my addition to the staff was not the impetus to this insight!  I suspect that the considerable changes of the last few years at FUMC/The Open Door and the potential big changes in the future at FUMC/The Open Door are the initiating factors.  Regardless, “change,” lovingly known as the c-word heretofore, is not a nice word.  In fact, most of us cringe at its very mention in the same sentence as our church, our home, or our family.

As you all know, I’m new to First United Methodist Church.  I’m new to Bloomington!  My husband and I moved our daughters Evie (4) and Carys (2) and our dog Gustaf into a 1920’s farmhouse on the south side.  Whilst sat at the dinner table Thursday morning, Evie sighed heavily and said: “I liked our old house, Mommy.  I don’t like the new house.”  After hearing my heart break, I choked out the words, “What don’t you like about the new house, Evie?”  Evie replied: “Well, this house is sorta crazy.”  To which my only response was, “Why, yes, yes it is, darling!”  Our house is crazy because we are still living among boxes.  Our house is crazy because we have a bunch of redecorating to do.  Our house is crazy because it’s not our old house.  Our house is crazy, scratch that, our life is crazy because LIFE CHANGED!  And, that, my friends, is a bad word... or is it?

Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth reminds us that perhaps the c-word isn’t quite the four letter word we feel it is.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (5:17).  So, if we are truly Christian then we’ve... wait for it... changed?!  Yes, the apostle Paul says we are changed, a new creation, turned inside out and upside down, when we are “in Christ.”  David Browning claims this change, this topsy-turvy alteration to the life we once knew, is, in fact, necessary to grow.

My prayer over the next few months (and over the next few years) is that the c-word will become our rallying cry rather than our mourning cry.  I believe that by embracing the c-word by grabbing a hold of change, staring change in the face, and maybe even shaking it a little, we are welcoming Christ a little deeper into our lives, which allows our newly created selves to shine a little brighter.  My prayer over the next few months is that I will listen to my own words because, truly, I do not do change well.  What I do enjoy, however, is discovering new territory, experiencing new places, and obtaining new knowledge.  And one cannot do any of those without change, right? Darn it.  Guess I’ll be embracing change with you too.

And now you know the rest of the story…

Cheers,

Rev. Stacee