The Readjustment Blues

Greetings Dear Reader,

Recently someone I care for deeply returned from hiking the Appalachian Trail.  She has been talking and blogging about the experience.  The reading is quite insightful.  One of the things she talks about is the adjustment back to “civilization”. 

As I read her writing and we talked about this I realized just how often we have to adjust to major changes that create culture shock for us.  Most of those changes are out of our control and sometimes even forced upon us by the choices of others, changes in society, or the movement of life.  Our jobs, our living space, and our social circles can all be impacted.  We realize things about who we are and what we wish to become as we move into the new surroundings.

I have come to realize that adjusting to changes for me requires a constant.  A constant in the storm is hard to find.  In the past I have used routines and ritual to be that constant and this always fails.  I have tried placing that burden on others and that only damages relationships.  The only constant I ever find is Christ.  The only constant of which he assures me is himself. 

As I adjust to changes the only thing that I can control in those changes is my response; who I am in the midst of those changes.  If I am anything other than someone who follows Christ with all his heart then I am going to get it wrong.  Some of the changes I walk through hurt deeply and bring me great sadness.  I cannot control what happens and to fight the changes requires me to violate my faith.

So what can I do?  I can see that even the pain and sadness of readjustment can bring me closer to Christ.  I can control the only thing that is truly in my control.  Who I am and how I conduct myself is all that I have.  That is all that I can control.  How I treat others and what I do to enrich their lives is all that I can give out of my brokenness.   If Christ is the only constant in the storm and that is all I have, then I have everything.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."