Change, change, change

I see change all around me all the time and it ALWAYS amazes me! When I look at the seniors at my school, it was not long ago at all they were freshmen. They were new, disoriented, tiny and rambunctious. Now they are the seniors… and the seniors of last year? They are now freshman out there in the world. Changes…

When I first started teaching I was 24 years old, no grey hair, and I was uncomfortable being addressed by my last name. I’m an elder now, older now than my mentor then. Changes…

And the light! The light has changed outside! It’s slanted and different than it was mid August. My garden is a shambles and the air has changed. The leaves on the trees have begun to change colour, die, and disappear. And yet, come Spring, they will return as will the warmth of the sun.

I think all religions recognize and mark that change happens, and that change creates hope. Those of us who are Jewish completed Yom Kippur a few seeks ago. It is a time to remember that we are going to die – a big change – and that in preparation, we need to ask others to forgive us. Further, we asked the power of life which we call G-d to remember us in the Book of Life when we die, and we symbolically acted as if we are among the dead by fasting. And then we come out of it and appreciate life. The Hindu holiday of Diwali, which will be celebrated in October, is both a holiday of light in dark times and the story of good prevailing over evil. The main stories in Christianity, of Jesus’ birth and his death and resurrection are about the power of transformational change and the promise of new life. Buddhism recognizes that every breath we take illustrates constant and perpetual change. And from that grows compassion.

Change is powerful. Change is hopeful. It can happen naturally – like the changes in the body or in the seasons, or it can happen because of actions – like civil Rights in this country or women’s rights in many places in the world. And it is often the small, seed-like changes that become big: an egg and a sperm combine to become a water creature and eventually a complicated human being, a lady refuses to move from a seat on the bus, a person stands up to a bully.

But let’s get personal. Think about the changes in your life. What are those moments, those markings, that have changed you and made you who you are? What are the changes you wish to make -- both in your life and in this world – today, this year, in the years to come?

Take a moment, right now to do something that is either about change or counter to change. Because we’ve had a major change already – going from the relaxation of summer to full steam ahead of school, I want to take 5 minutes to just sit and catch our breath. DO nothing, change nothing, just be. Or, I ask you to ponder change, in your life or in this world. Either way, I want us to just sit, together, quietly and breath. As you sat, your breathing changed, your heart rate changed, your brain waves changed. Change is powerful, change is hopeful. Change brings peace.