New Beginnings

New beginnings are hard.  It is as if our confidence has ebbed, presence fled, and ego deflated.  I don’t quite know what it is but everyone likes the confidence, status, and comfort which rest in the status quo.  Yet life includes change.  It comes in more way, sizes, and quantity than anyone in their right mind would desire.  The timing seems to be automatically at odds with comfort, predictability, and assurance.  Yet for all the negatives change is really about opportunity.  We have a new window in which we can make a difference.  Everything has yet to be written.  This includes who we are in the context of our new beginnings, how we approach the conundrums and wicket problems in life, and even how we relate to those closest to us.
 
I am beginning to think that any and all change is good.  We tend to start becoming complacent the moment life settles into a rhythm.  New rhythms begin with the first beat, it just takes us awhile to understand and see how buried we are in yesterday’s music.  Today, with each dawn, concurrent with each hello, and even buried in any interaction, is the moment in which we can turn towards mercy, acceptance, and love as if it is our first encounter!  In this moment everything is new; creation finds itself in a fresh birth with you and I as playing the role of custodians and parents.
 
Looking backwards, I think I understand why Jesus would say, “So let me say it again, this truth: It's better for you that I leave.  If I don't leave, the Friend won't come.  But if I go, I'll send him to you.” (John 16.7)  Sometimes you and I have to change our approach and even our location in order to free others to be more than they are.  Sometimes Divinity gives you and me the same opportunity.  I wonder what today will bring.  I know everything is unwritten.  I understand the moment is now.  It is just finding the courage to take that step.  God help us.