The Downside of Change
I’ve been in a strange sort of mood the past week or so…wistful, nostalgic, sometimes even downright melancholy. I think a few different factors converged to create this frame of mind. The rain surely plays a part; when it rains as much as it has lately down here, it’s bound to take a toll eventually. I believe that getting older factors in as well. And all my thinking about the 20th anniversary of Eastridge has come together with these other factors to create a perfect storm of funk (and not funk in the cool James Brown or George Clinton kind of way, either…). To break it down to its core, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how, in the midst of truly positive change, some relationships fall away or get left by the wayside.
I spent some time Wednesday night with a group of people, most of whom were a family who was like a second family to me for so many years. In the last handful of years, different changes have peeled away the closeness of most of those relationships until I only have regular contact with one person in that family. It’s sad, but I guess it’s inevitable.
When we started Eastridge back in 1989, there were seven or eight families who took the journey with us that first week and more who came on board in the early months of our existence. Now, there are only a few of us “originals” left. Some just drifted away; others left because, in their eyes, the church grew too large and couldn’t “be like it used to be.” Change comes without fail, and sometimes it rocks the boat too hard for people.
I suppose that’s the downside of change. When you grow, most people don’t grow right along with you. Marriages dissolve. People get sick. Others make wrong choices, small and large. We can’t escape our lives evolving and transforming, and unfortunately some relationships get left in the wake of change. For someone like me who thrives on relationships, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
That’s what I’ve been struggling with lately.
OK, I think I’ve gotten that out of my system. I’m gonna go and be happy now…