Change & Growth

My granddaughter just turned one this past weekend. As I’ve observed her over the recent months I never cease to be amazed at how she quickly she grows and changes. In fact, at her age change is the norm. She recently learned to walk, she has babbled her first words, and she is absorbing life like a cute little sponge. For her, literally everything is new and fascinating and exciting. All of this has gotten me thinking about how different our “adult” lives are from hers. Obviously we all stop growing taller at some point, but somewhere along the way many people also reach an age of equilibrium where they stop growing intellectually and emotionally as well. We settle down, get comfortable, and begin to shun change. This can be a dangerous thing, for once our hearts and minds become less pliable they begin to atrophy. In short, we remain the same. In my opinion this has at least the perceived effect of aging us. Another interesting side-effect of this common condition is that we begin to judge others who may choose not to stay the same as us. That is a defense mechanism which helps to justify our own position. Is this who we wish to be? When I was in the middle of writing this, I stumbled across the following thoughts in Sarah Young’s devotional: “Without any conscious awareness, they make their habitual responses. People who live this way find a dullness creeping into their lives. They sleepwalk through their days, following well-worn paths of routine. God, the Creator of the universe, is the most creative Being imaginable. He will not leave you circling in deeply rutted paths. Instead, He will lead you along fresh trails of adventure, revealing to you things you did not know.” What a great perspective.

Newton’s first law of motion states that a body in rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Do we want to stay at rest, or in motion? Stability and security are a comfort, but they can also put us into bondage as we fight to main maintain and protect them. I, for one, desire something more. One of my grown children mentioned a while back that I was very predictable. It may even have been intended as a compliment, but I want to be just a bit unpredictable. I want to be interesting. Why not be adventurous once in a while? I’ve always appreciated C.S. Lewis’ description of the lion, Aslon. “Is he safe? No … but he is good.” That offers some food for thought because we are entirely too safe. I earnestly desire my character, faith and integrity to be consistent. However, my goal is for those qualities to manifest themselves creatively and dynamically so that they provide inspiration rather than justifying a rut.

What do you want for your own life? Are you too predictable? Do you want to be? I, for one, desire something more than a steady, quite suburban life. We need to keep changing and growing and responding. Let us not put down the roots of comfort and complacency so deeply that we become as immovable trees. We should never consider ourselves as done or complete. Each life is a work in progress. Each person is also a work in progress. So, like my granddaughter, we need to let go, lean forward, and see where our feet take us. That is what life if all about.