Change

When I was in my early twenties, Don and I went one day to the bus station in San Francisco; Don needed to use the restroom and as I waited for him to return a rather disheveled man approached me and extending his hand to show me a quarter said, "Change?" I reached into my purse and accommodated him. Don viewed the event from across the terminal and when he returned he asked why I had given the man money. I said "He just wanted change." Don said "I know. He's a panhandler." Then I added..."he had a quarter in his hand and he just wanted change, so I gave him two dimes and a nickel."..."and took his quarter." Don laughed at my naivete and is sure there is a panhandler somewhere who has told the story as many times as we have, perhaps with amazement rather than amusement.
I like to think about the panhandler's dilemma in this way...He asked for change and received equal value in the exchange when what he really wanted was an increase. In our lives change will come and we, like the panhandler, need to ask for increased value i.e. growth from change.
Right from the beginning of creation life has been a scene of continuous change. For our first parents conditions changed as a result of The Fall. As we approach the Millennium and the Second Coming of Christ we experience change in many new ways. We must accept change as a condition of living and learn from it.
Events in our lives bring change: birth, marriage, death, school, missions, retirement, relocation, menopause, callings and assignments, career or job change, promotion, pay raises, unemployment, leaving home or children leaving home; conditions in our lives change: health, illness, disability, accidents, divorce, loss of money or property, theft, assault, natural disaster; in all of these change begets change.
Sometimes we are in control; we create or facilitate change, but we are often victims; out of control. Knowing that change is inevitable we can and ought to anticipate, plan and prepare for it. When we are experiencing change we can choose to accept, adjust and adapt to it, or we can surrender, crumble and experience stress and defeat. One avenue will bring depression, despair and discouragement, while the other will refine and purify us; bringing growth and empowerment...not power to control others or even events and conditions, but power to guide our destiny.
If life is a road we follow to our destination, then change is a tunnel through which we pass. The middle of the tunnel is darkness; when we can't seethe end, faith and hope are oour flashlights and preparation is our spare battery. We will emerge with greater knowledge, confidence and strength until, having emerged from enough tunnels we find we have reached our destination...the ultimate change...a "mighty change of heart". The change that turns tunnels into bridges and allows us to travel always and forevermore in the light. The Light of Christ will bring us to our Eternal Home.