“Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”
~Romans 12:2a (NRSV)
Why on earth do we subject
ourselves to change? The reasons are simple.
The pressure for change, that
which compels us to change, to be transformed, outweighs the pressure of
comfort to stay as we are. Only when we stand to gain more through changing do
we embrace it. Only when all we can do to survive is change do we take change
on. Whoever changed simply for the sake of it?
Becoming Transformed
The odds are that those who read
this have been transformed, or are becoming transformed. Having chosen movement
in preference to remaining static, when we embrace transformation, allowing our
minds to be flexibly renewed, we have agreed with the notion of life that
cannot be sensibly argued with.
Either we become transformed and
devote ourselves to ongoing transformations, or we become staid in our approach
to life, and this is because our thinking has burrowed into a ‘safe’ rut.
Risk-free is not the spiritual place to be.
The healthiest of people devote
themselves to being flexibly open regarding transformation. It is the will to
learn, to grow, and to blossom into the person they are becoming. And
becomingness is the great task of life. We may be one of many things, but we
are more truly several versions of the one thing. Our lives are dynamic.
Achieving Change
Perhaps the greatest of freedoms
is our commitment to change, which is an eternity beyond feeling forced to
change. No one likes being forced to change, for that is prison-like, but
taking an active role in reinventing ourselves is both creativity and
expansion.
But even when we’re forced to
change, we can decide, of ourselves, to take charge. This is our life after all.
We’re victims in none of it where we retain some control.
Learning to embrace the changes
foisted upon us is the greatest test of our humble maturity. And if we can
embrace such change, we make any and every situation positively changeable. And
if we can embrace every change, despite the pain we experience, nothing can
beat us.
Our ability to accept change, and
to absorb pressures for change, is a testimony so powerful it will inspire
other people. That’s how we achieve change in a world that hates change.
***
Taking a course of change is
taking control of everything within our grasp. It’s all God asks of us—to take
responsibility for our lives. This is achieved when we take opportunities for
change and make them our own.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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