Thought for the day

Change is the buzz word out in the world. Whether it is from one millennium, year, or day to another, change is all around us in sometimes dramatic ways. On a personal basis, these changes come in two instances of our lives: adversity or prosperity. Adversity tends to simplify life because it reduces life to one idea–survival. This change is traumatic because it becomes a question of life or death. Existence becomes more complex as we prosper. Changes create pressure to determine priorities. Integrity is put to the test.

When adversity or prosperity come, we are faced with a fundamental choice. Are we able to move from the familiar to the unknown without disturbing the essentials? This is where the Christian has the advantage. The foundations stay in place. Dramatic changes do not cast us adrift on a sea of uncertainty. The essential is "A charge to keep I have..." and the change leads us "..to serve the present age". In both cases, whether in adversity or prosperity, we are called "To do my master's will". These are the words of Charles Wesley in 1762. They speak to the tension of every generation–keeping our roots in the midst of exciting, and sometimes tempting, changes.