Christine Schoene Maccabee
The Inevitability of Change
While everyone else is sleeping in on this beautiful early spring morning, I am standing outside listening to the ecstatic songs and calls of birds. I know I am the privileged one, the lucky one, for I get to hear those songs and to see the sun rise on this gorgeous day. I also witnessed the honking of a flock of geese, heading north mind you, not south, while feeling the warmth of the sun on my face.
“No snow in sight!” announced the reporter on my radio yesterday, and a thrill had gone right up my spine! Finally, the change I have been waiting for is beginning.
This has not been an easy winter for anyone. Last fall, I sensed it was going to be a hard one, and so I was dragged kicking and screaming into the cold weather months. Of course, I had no choice but to adjust, as I am entrenched here in the mountains (sort of like reporters who are entrenched in war zones). Flying to Bermuda was not an option, so there was nothing to do but accept the changes in the temperature and the radical moods of the weather patterns. If you got to go to Florida, all I can say is, “Lucky you!”. However, here is a contradiction that you may find peculiar : I wouldn’t want to live without all these amazing seasonal changes. Once a Maryland girl, always a Maryland girl, complaints and all!
The Ecclesiastic philosopher of the Old Testament lived around 900 B.C., a time when writing one’s thoughts down was beginning to become all the rage. He did not use the word “change,” but that was what he was thinking. I have been thinking a lot about change, too, and its inevitability; and so I am writing about it now in 2015. The “Preacher” as we call this mystery man, was a good bit more grim about life in his book than I am (it is not really a great read). Perhaps if he knew what scientists have revealed to us in this day and age about the nature of life, his mind might have been more at ease. We now know that changes are occurring at every second of our lives, as well as the life of our planet, not to mention the universe. In fact, with no change, there would be no life, at least not as we know it. Without change, much like the changes of chords and keys in music, there would be no creativity and very little of interest or beauty.
Chord changes in music, though hard to learn for some people, come easily to me. However, some changes in life’s circumstances have come very hard. There have been times in my life when I could not sing a love song if you paid me. Loss of love relationships can nearly kill a person. I call this bad change. As well, the unexpected death or disappearance of a loved one can leave a hole in one’s heart that may not easily be recovered from, if ever. Ambiguous loss (such as not knowing if your son or brother who went off to war is dead or alive (popularly called “missing in action”) can be a tragedy that may be impossible to transcend, and creates a wrenching change for loved ones. Even a divorce can create similar feelings of loss and change, that only time can heal. Unexpected calamities such as fires and floods, auto accidents, twisters, tsunamis, earthquakes, war, and illness also create difficult circumstances that inevitably require heroic adaptation and tons of faith.
A couple of years ago, a fire destroyed my little house and many precious items. This was a most unwelcome change, to say the least. A time of mourning ensued and my recovery has taken a while, as many of my plans were shattered, as well as my peace of mind. However, due to that setback, among others, I have become a more empathetic person. I see now that we are all bound together by a single thread, that thread being change, and there is no avoiding it. It takes perspective to attain wisdom, and after so many changes in my life, I must admit, I am still not wise. So who is? Your spouse? Your minister? A teacher? Your best friend? Count yourself lucky if you have at least one such person in your life; for no matter how hard the adjustment, there is usually at least one person who cares enough to help see you through with their love and understanding.
If my death (the ultimate change) is inevitable, which it is, then I will again be dragged kicking and screaming ‘til then; none of that mellowing into end of life antiquity for me! As philosophical as I try to be about all the changes—good, bad, and difficult—my plan is to drink deeply from that Fountain of Youth, and, springtime is the best time of year to do just that. Nature is “the gentlest mother” said Emily Dickinson, and, I agree, since my problems tend to melt away as soon as I walk out the door into the wonderful wildness of the little mountain valley I call home. Today, the birds are going crazy trilling their tunes for mates. In time, babies will be hatching, warmer breezes will be blowing, Easter eggs will be hunted by our next generations, and resurrection feelings will come as naturally as the crocus and daffodils emerging from the once frozen soil. I can handle spring changes. They are great changes!
So, thank God winter is over! Let us now all join in singing a lusty chorus of “Alleluias” for the wonder, and inevitability, of change (and don’t forget the chord changes that create those heavenly harmonies)!
