Times they are a changin'

"Change is one of the most difficult human dilemmas. We all are drawn to stability and security, and we all struggle with transition. Change represents a threat to our world, a break from the comfort of routine, and we are in many ways biologically wired to resist it. And yet change, when brought about with intelligence and wisdom, is precisely what our planet needs: in business, in education and the arts, in the religions, in science, in politics, in economics, in our relationship with the earth." ~ Wayne Teasedale, A Monk in the World: Cultivating a Spiritual Life


A lot of the time it seems really hard to WANT change. We want things to be good, to be better, but we seldom really want change. Change is seen as a necessary evil, a means to an end. I know I often see it that way. We want things to change for the better...and then to stay the same! Change is an undeniable reality of this life and if we can learn to be at home in the midst of that then we're really getting somewhere.

Embracing change seems to be about discovering and experiencing the place where the infiniteness of this moment touches the unending march of time. I heard it described as a great symphony. For there to be music, change must not only be present but must be embraced. The path from dissonance to resolution is impossible if not for change and there is a profound freedom that is found when one can rest in beauty of the moment, knowing full well that whatever is happening in the music will soon pass away. And though our emotions may be called up from the depths of our being as they resonate with a particular melody, we know also that those feelings will not last. We can see them as they are, as a point of connection between our soul and our body, and allow them to just be.

Life is little different, me thinks. Most of life seems to happen to us and we react. But as we learn to be at home with change, to really find the Presence in the present and not in any particular circumstance or experience, we become more and more free to choose how we respond and not allow ourselves to be controlled by the thoughts and feelings that any chord might stir up in us.

And then we become free to truly participate in life, in affecting positive change in a way that moves the symphony forward towards greater and greater beauty and wonder. We become composers in our own right, to shape not just our own piece of music but to contribute to the score that animates the entire Kosmos.