Have you ever stopped to think about why we say, “Change is hard?” Most people resist change and prefer the stability of certainty. We function with the illusion of control, and when that is shattered, we experience anxiety and a heightened desire for control. Sometimes our fear leads us to emotional paralysis and rigidity in our thinking. At the end of this road is the reality that the opposite of trust is not doubt, but certainty.
And yet, change is woven into the fabric of creation. We see it in the shedding of autumn leaves, in the cooling of the air as winter approaches. We see it in the painful, even violent act of giving birth, which is overshadowed by the joy of new life. And we experience it daily in the small invitations to trust that God is good and trustworthy.
In Thomas Keating’s well-known Welcoming Prayer, we are invited to let go of our desire for control in order to make room for God’s love, presence, and action:
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today
because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions,
persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within.
Amen
May we accept the invitation to trust in God’s goodness, faithfulness, and unfailing love.
Carol