Change.
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
Change is constant. Nothing stays the same.
But we live in a world, where superficially, everything changes. Businesses rebrand. Teams change colors. Politicians change their stances. Enemies become friends. Countries become enemies.
But at the core of everything, nothing really changes. Businesses do whatever it takes to make a dollar. Teams do whatever it takes to win games. Politicians do whatever it takes to stay in office. So, the old adage is true: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
This is what intrigues me about The Apostle Paul, and God. God says, “ For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed”. Paul says he has learned to be content. There’s a certain stable, unchanged ability accompanying contentment.
But in our lively bodies, things are always changing. I’m not the same, on a cellular level, as I was even 1 hour ago. My skin cells have changed. My metabolism is churning away on different foodstuffs. My body water content is different. Things are different.
And yet, we are to maintain a certain level of uniformity within our souls. That’s a tough ask, especially since God ain’t knocking me down on the road to Damascus. Everything around me is constantly changing. And to not adapt and change is to become frail and die. Or so it feels.
So where is the dividing line? What gives? What stays?
To be human is to be in constant friction. And that friction sustains the dark night and bright lights of the soul. And that soul is tethered to the eternal now. And ‘now’ never ends. Until it does.
More to come on this.
Totally an incomplete thought right now!