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There are dozens and dozens of quotes and phrases about change. Tony Robbins said: "By changing nothing, nothing changes." Andre Gide tells us: "Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." Karen Lamb's quote is: "A year from now you will wish you had started today." Winston Churchill said: "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading" said Lao Tzu. Heraclitus said: "There is nothing permanent...except change." Woodrow Wilson told us: "If you want to make enemies, try to change something."
I can keep this up all day.
There are also cautions about change... have you ever heard it said "don't make changes just for change sake" (or something to that effect?) Billy Joel sang "Don't go changing to try and please me...you never let me down before..."
Change is controversial. Change is difficult. Change can be fraught with mistakes. When frustrated and faced with inaction some have the attitude "let's do SOMETHING, even if it's wrong!!" That doesn't sound too wise. But change can be critically necessary or, at a minimum, beneficial. Many Christians embrace the quote by Reinhold Niebuhr that says "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to accept the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Good words.
So let's talk about change. Here are a couple of perspectives for this go round.
1. If you are not going in the right direction, you need to change. This, of course, seems obvious. But how do we know we are going in the wrong direction? It can be easy to lose our way and many things can cause that. We also can resist change for a number of reasons...complacency, fear, stubbornness, and immaturity are a few reasons that come to mind. I'm sure you can think of others. During my relatively brief time last century as a student at the University of Georgia and, prior to, during and following that time as a die-hard Georgia football fan, I made the Augusta to Athens, Georgia drive more times than I can count. I could almost drive it in my sleep (and I'm sure over the years for some very brief moments, I probably did.) But as the years went by and after giving up my season tickets, my drives to Athens became less frequent. With the birth of our children, years even went by without me making that drive. A few years later we found ourselves with tickets to a game and made the trek again. As you drive through the intersection on the outskirts of Washington, Georgia the road used to fork...stay straight and you continue on the road that heads to Athens...veer right and you head in the direction of Elberton. Somewhere along the way, the Georgia Department of Transportation did some highway improvement work in and around Washington, Georgia. As we proceeded away from Washington and while chatting away (this is what is referred to as distracted driving) I kept going straight like I always did. After a few miles however, I realized that the road no longer was looking familiar (remember, this was not my first drive to Athens.) No one else in the car was really paying attention either. I continued a bit farther hoping to see some familiar house or bridge or something that would help confirm or deny my concern (this was before smartphones and GPS devices.) Finally, tossing my man card out the window, I told my wife and other couple in the car, "I don't think we are on the right road." "Really? You sure? How do you know? Why do you think that?" they chimed in. My male friend in the car finally watched the scenery go by for a little while and said, "you are right...you are definitely going the wrong way." So, I turned around and headed back towards Washington where I eventually came upon the turn-off that clearly was marked showing the direction towards Athens. I was simply not paying attention and missed the new intersection. I think there are several lessons to be learned from that experience.
- I need to acknowledge that sometimes in life, the road gets moved
- The way I have always gone or done things may no longer be appropriate or right
- I need to pay attention to the road upon which I travel and keep looking for what I know are the trustworthy signs and landmarks
- I need to ask people in my life that care about me to also pay attention to my direction and let me know if they believe that I am drifting or have gotten off track.
- When I am going the wrong way, continuing to move in that direction, hoping it might still work out, is foolishness
However...
2. Not all change moves you in the right direction. There is a story/ joke about a couple of hunters who trek out through the woods to hunt deer. They had walked an hour or so going deeper and deeper into the terrain that they believed would allow for a deer sighting. Sure enough, coming up to a small clearing, a large buck with an impressive rack was spotted and the hunter that had earlier won the coin toss aimed and fired. His aim was true and the large animal went down. The hunters were ecstatic that they had bagged a prize buck. Picking up the deer by the hind legs they proceeded to drag their quarry back to where they had parked the truck. The problem was that, due to the size and spread of this buck's rack, it was acting almost like a drag anchor catching on small trees and even digging into the ground as they dragged the animal. It was obvious that they needed to change the way they were pulling the deer. Finally one of them said "what if we go around to the other side, pick up the deer by the antlers and start dragging him that way?" Seemed like a perfect change in strategy so they did just that. After about 30 minutes of pulling, the hunter with the great idea boasted "this sure is an easier way of moving this deer!" His hunting buddy, realizing however that their change in strategy was flawed, answered, "yeah, but we are getting farther away from the truck." Not all change moves you in the right direction. Sometimes making a change just so things will be easier or more convenient will result in making things worse. It might feel good for a while but it will eventually become obvious that it wasn't a good move. Change, especially dramatic changes, should be well thought out. Organizational changes can be very hard. Changing the way a business operates can disrupt an entire business culture. Relationship changes can be brutally difficult with lifelong consequences. Churches that go through significant changes can be accused of a trampling on long practiced traditions or strongly held beliefs
So how do we embrace these two points? Stay tuned for Part II where I'll talk more about change. In the meantime...your comments are appreciated.
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it" -- Yogi Berra
(Just threw that in because I love Yogi Berra quotes)
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