A Change of Heart (09/27/2926)
He was tall, clean cut, neatly dressed for the messy job we had ahead of us. His college house teamed with my college house to create a Blast Booth to raise money for charity at the upcoming college fundraiser weekend. We were told to pair up, male and female, for this activity. We were the last two left. We ended up together by default.
He was polite enough. I asked about his major. He told me, “Animal science.” I figured he wasn’t going to know much about building stuff. He didn’t ask my major, assuming that since I was from Welch, I was a Home Economics major.
As we started to work on our part of the booth and as our conversation components expanded beyond short questions and one-word answers, we found out more about each other. He’d worked his way through three years of college by working construction jobs during the summers. He learned that I was the only engineering major, specifically architecture, at Welch. In fact, I was the only female architecture major that year.
Once we saw that our original opinions were based on error, we lightened up and opened up and warmed up to one another. That was 58 years ago yesterday, the anniversary of the day my husband, Kenneth, and I met. And every day since then, I have thanked the LORD for his change of heart where I was concerned.
Today’s gospel reading one of Jesus’ stories told to teach a lesson. It describes a father who asks two sons to do something; the first says, “No,” then has a change of heart and does it; the second says, “Yes,” then has a change of heart and does not. It happens. We humans frequently have a change of heart. It’s a good thing, too, because it is only when we are open to that change that we will find the LORD’s way and will rather than our own.
In the scriptures, we often hear the word, “Repent.” In Greek, the original language of the New Testament, the word translated into “repent” is μετανοέω (pronounced metanoeo). It means repent, but it means more than that. It also means to change one’s mind for the better, it means turning from one stance/position to another. It means a change of heart.
In this life, the LORD invites us to change our hearts often. We call it conversion in spiritual talk. And the scriptures call us to that daily. Conversion isn’t just about changing from one religious denomination to another. Most of the time, conversion is used to describe the daily call to change our minds and actions for the better, to turn toward the LORD more fully and to turn away from our own stubbornness or selfishness or ignorance.
This day, as I mark the 1st day in my 59th year of knowing a most special man and of building a life with him, I also celebrate what a difference my change of heart meant. And this day, as we all continue our journeys in faith, hope and love, let us open ourselves to new challenges and to the LORD’s invitation to change our hearts and with our hearts our actions and with our actions ourselves. Let us commit to spending more time with the LORD and as we come to know the LORD better, we will come to love the LORD more deeply, and we will catch ourselves in moments of "change" because our heart knows what we need and want - life in our LORD.
Believe me when I tell you that great things can come from simple changes of heart.
Until tomorrow, let us all love well.
Thank you