Change

...be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] -- Hebrews 13:5b (Amplified Bible)

My mother died just a little over a year ago.  For the last two years of her life I lived with her and took care of her in her studio apartment at Evergreen Place.  I happened to be going by Evergreen Place this morning and I decided to stop in just to see what it looked like, and to see whether mom's apartment had rented.  I think the thing that struck me was just how much was unchanged.  The furnishings were the same.  There were the same purple carpeted halls that I'd walk, same plaid overstuffed furniture, same artwork on the walls, the dining room still arranged with it's many round tables where I imagined even the same petty competitors bickered for the same table, even many of the same names on the gold nameplates on the doors.  In so many ways it seemed like life there was totally the same as when I moved out.  Yet, I feel different.  I feel like a hundred years has passed by and like life is so completely different; so much has changed for me.

I thought on my way back to my car how this is like God's presence with us.  Much of Christianity speaks to the trustworthy, ever-present, changeless God who is our constant companion through all life's miseries and joys.  Looking at Evergreen Place, I realize I am the one who has changed.  I am the one who has moved out, moved away, moved on with life.  Perhaps this is how we also disconnect ourselves from our Constant Assurance?  We move on, get busy with our lives, move away from the religious and spiritual roots and traditions that held us steady.  But, God remains steadfast, maintaining His end of the covenant that He promised centuries ago.  

When I got up to the third floor south wing at Evergreen Place and arrived at Apartment 333, where I had spent 2 solid years, there was a gold nameplate on the door that said simply, "Welcome."  This is the invitation God puts out there every hour of every day to each and every one of us -- Welcome. Welcome back, welcome in, welcome beside Me.  Amen.