No, not nickels and dimes…that isn’t the change intended.

I am not talking about a change of clothes…or even change of seasons either. I am trying to think about a more fundamental, subtle and far more significant change.

When you look at a small rosebud, you know that by time and a little nourishment, it shall turn into a wonderful blooming rose, with soft silky petals, invigorating aroma and fascinating beauty. You also know, that the same glorious flower is bound to wither in due time, lose its enchanting appearance, fade away and finally crumble. Every living thing on this earth, is bound by the same cycle. It may take a few thousand years for some trees, a few short hours for some insects…or, a few short years for a human, it is the same cycle nonetheless. Now…how often does anybody think about this? Yes, I know you shall say, this is as old as the mundane sermon of an unsophisticated preacher. Indeed, the same preacher who tried to get people’s attention for so many years in vain. Nevertheless, this is not what I’d like you to think about. I would like to look at the critical phase between each of these manifest stages in the cycle. Think about the turbulent chapter between childhood and adolescence, and the impossible – to – define – line between adolescence and maturity…then think further about the most dreaded phase between adulthood and senility. Are we getting closer to the point?

When was the last time you changed schools, jobs? Or changed residency? Do you remember the transition between high school and college? How about the day you said farewell to a loved one…or said Hello to a total stranger who would become an integral part of your life?

Some of the most dramatic and influential moments that changed the course of our lives, can go unnoticed, to become totally obliterated from our memory by time. But its effect lasts with us for as long as we live and transition, from one stage in life to the next. Have you ever noticed how each time we reach the threshold for a new stage we adamantly resist that change with all our being. Some people go through serious problems of depression, fear and many other emotional convulsions when the time comes to…change. The critical difference between one individual and the other is that those who overcome their fear and tendency for sedimentary existence have a much better chance to adapt and go on, while the others who cling to the status quo, end up usually left behind wallowing in the mire of self pity. Change will come upon us whether we like it or not as life around us will continue to develop in ways we cannot control or anticipate. If we have the courage to initiate the necessary changes in our life to keep up with the progress around us without losing our basic tenets of faith and ethics, we shall certainly prosper. Mind you, we have to be careful and “look before we leap” as the famous idiom says. Some changes can be catastrophic. A sheep cannot suddenly change into a wolf in order to join the wolf pack. A true lamb trying to do that will certainly be devoured by the carnivorous company. If you succeed as a member of the wolf pack, you were never a real lamb in the first place. So, yes to change…but you must think…change into what?

Notice that proper natural change always leads to what is better…more mature, and refined. Yes, the final stage is usually when flesh returns back to dust, but the wonderful truth is that in case of faithful humans, that ushers in the most wonderful change of all…