This error in thinking credits fate with the so-called ‘facts’ that our culture, beliefs, countries. and people simply are as they have always been – and they will always be this way. This instinct kills our power. It can cause us to believe our false generalizations and seductive ‘gaps’ are not only true – but are also unavoidable.  Don’t buy it.

The ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ were destined to be locked into a blood feud – and that could not be changed for any of them… Right?  No!  In fact, a romantic movie was made about how wrong that assumption was.

Cultures, nations, people, and beliefs are constantly in the process of transformation. And, we often have more power to shape those changes than we take credit (or responsibility) for.

Sometimes things appear to be unchangeable / unchanging – just because the changes are happening s-l-o-w-l-y.

I read that the first nature reserve was created in the third century BC. More than 2,000 years later a similar idea was expressed in Europe, and 50 years after that, Yellowstone National Park was set up and protected in the USA.  It’s been slow going – but today about 15% of our land is protected in National Parks and sanctuaries.

When we lock our vision on things as they are today – and assume that’s just the way it is – we risk missing out on how things could be.  We may feel helpless and overwhelmed – and take us out of action. Our vision fuels hope for the future – and our hope fuels our power to shape the changes that are sure to come.

So, how can we train ourselves to see that it’s not necessarily our destiny to suffer a continual or repeated circumstance – that things are not the way they have always been, or how they are always meant to be?

Here are a few suggestions:

• Keep track of small, gradual improvements. Even tiny, consistent change can lead to huge differences. Imagine the impact of a one or two degree change in trajectory for space travel from the earth to the moon or mars. Such a slight difference might not even be noticeable to the space travellers – unless they carefully monitored their flight – but over time it could bring a catastrophic result. Little things do mean a lot!
• Keep your knowledge current – things can go out of date quickly.
• Talk to your elders about how things have changed from their youth (and listen for stories of change over their parents lifetimes, etc). New inventions, and customs have been established.
• Look for examples of cultural change: Cultures have shifted, people are capable of continued change.  There is great hope. (See Romans 5: 6)

We can be eternally grateful for the one thing that never changes … and that is the love and promise of our all-powerful God.

Matthew 28:20

“ … I am with you always – even to the end of the age.”

Hebrews 13:5

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For he Himself has said, “ I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Blessings, Love and Laughter to you,

Margaret