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The
Fear of Change
November
17, 2002
Fr. George Smiga
Matthew
25:14-30
How many
psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb? One, but
it's a slow and tedious process and the light bulb has to
really want to be changed.
There's
the rub. Change is difficult, and there are few of us here
who welcome it in our lives. When we possess something which
is good, we want to hold onto it just as it is. When we are
in a caring and supportive relationship, we don't want new
ideas or new goals to start shifting things around. When we
are comfortable in our surroundings, secure in our environment,
we do not want to contemplate a change of place or an alteration
in our circumstances. The common cry of humanity is, "Things
are fine just as they are. Don't ask me to adjust. Don't ask
me to change."
This resistance
to change is what makes today's gospel parable so important.
The whole point of the Gospel today is that we cannot keep
the good things that we now have simply by holding onto them.
Thinking that we can preserve the persons and circumstances
in our life just as they are today is as foolish as the slave
in today's parable thinking he could please his master by
burying money in the ground. To hold onto the good that we
have today forever is impossible. We need to be willing to
let go, to risk, to let things change.
If we
do not let go, if we do not invest what we have, we lose it.
This is true of relationships. The people in our life are
always changing. Our children change from infants to teenagers
to adults. Unless we are willing to change with them, we lose
them. The relationship we have with a spouse or a friend is
in flux with new ideas and new directions. Unless we are willing
to grow with them, we get left behind. Aging changes us. Our
energy and health shift as the years advance. To think that
we can live today as we lived thirty years ago renders us
out of touch and foolish.
Our world
is always morphing around us, a new job, a new home, a new
set of expectations. We open our quarterly financial report
and realize that we have to rethink what we can spend and
what retirement is going to look like. Our bishop asks us
to re-envision what parish life is by imagining ourselves
partnering with another parish in the 'Vibrant Parish Life'
initiative. Our president tells us that life is not going
to be the same because of the threat of terrorism in our midst.
Whether
we like it or not, the world around us is changing and we
are expected to change as well. To live is to change, and
to live well is to change often. Now knowing this does not
necessarily make it easier because every change involves risk.
But, the good news in today's parable is this: every servant
who was willing to take that risk succeeded admirably. The
only servant who failed was the one who deluded himself into
thinking that he could avoid risk by holding onto what he
had and burying his master's money in the ground.
In the
end, change is not the enemy. Fear is. Letting go of the good
things we now have will not destroy us. Pretending that we
can keep things exactly as they are, will. Change is difficult,
but it is a part of life and a part of God's plan. The Gospel
today calls us to face the changes in our life with hope.
We are asked to imitate the example of the faithful servants
and believe that God will not give us more than we can handle.
Take the risk. Be willing to let go of the things you now
have, and let them grow. This is the only way to live. This
is the only way that we will ever hear Christ say to us, "Well
done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your master's
joy."
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