It’s Great until It Isn’t (02/02/26)

I have two Boston ferns. During the summer, they reside on tables on my front porch. They love summer. Then in the fall, I bring them in. They pout for the first month or so. This year, their pout turned into full blown snit, they turned brown and dropped leaves, and I was vacuuming every day. So, I finally cut off all the growth. I am still watering them and hoping they will re-emerge and come back. It was great until it wasn’t.

When I was going through treatment for the last bout of cancer, we had an expression in the family: "It's all right until it isn't. And right now, it's all right." Things would change which meant I had to change things or ways that I did things like what I ate and how much I slept. I learned all over again that when life changes, we must recognize it, and change ourselves.

I find that in life this sort of things happens frequently. Something is going great and then suddenly it isn’t. And I just hate it when something that has always worked quits working. There is usually a good reason why things change and why I’m required to change what I’ve always done. The operative word here is “change.” The frequency with which this happens doesn’t make me any fonder of the situation.

My spiritual life and journey are like that. I will go along for long stretches, and everything is great until it isn’t. I start to notice that my prayer time is more strained or less productive. Or I find myself distracted during my time of reflection and prayer. I notice my normal level of peace and well-being shrinking. If I don’t address the situation, it goes to the next stage, sort of like my fern, where it’s obvious to everyone that something isn’t working. And so, I know it is time to make some changes. It is time for me to “turn” so that I might “return.”

How about you? Do you ever have those times when what has always worked doesn’t seem to be working quite like it should? Is it time for a change? Is it time to “turn” so that you might “return.”

As we continue on our journey, let us commit to staying alert to the details of our journey and to making changes when changes are needed. Let us also commit to helping one another through those changes which are rarely easy. Let us offer our support through honesty and through companionship to one another most especially when we know another’s journey is going through a challenging time. We are so blessed to have the Spirit with us, our advocate, our helper.

Until tomorrow, love well.