Advent: Transitioning into the dark time of the year
By another name, transition is change. The longer I live the more I recognize, and at times even accept, that living a balanced life is largely contingent upon how successfully I handle the transitions in my lives. Ready or not, new events and occurrences happen in our lives and invite us to change. Transitions and changes occur when we move to a job or change positions; when we move to a new school or start a new grade; when children are born into our families and then grow up; when new friends appear and old friends leave; and when our Christian faith community leaders prepare to depart as new leaders prepare to arrive. As some of you know I had a Navy career that spanned about 30 years of active service. I just calculated that during that time I had 18 permanent changes of duty. I wasn’t always ready, nor did I want all of those changes of duty. Not too strangely, my readiness didn’t always seem to matter to the people who detailed me for those moves...