The Nouns of Change
With it being a trillion degrees outside, it’s hard to reflect on enjoying the outdoors. Though we know that cooler days are coming, it is so easy to forget that change will come when you’re in the middle of the heat wave. It seems to be that way with change. Oftentimes, we can’t possibly imagine a situation other than the one we are currently in the middle of, particularly when it isn’t the most pleasant of situations. By the very nature of being a squishy human with particular needs for survival, being physically uncomfortable makes us “mentally uncomfy”. Society has excelled at making sure that we don’t have to ever “tolerate”, especially those of us with any measure of privilege. Air conditioning, heat, pain relievers, bug spray, grocery pickup, online church, heated seats in the car, communities of like minded individuals, news programs that are specifically tailored to our beliefs, shoes for bad feet, sunglasses, podcasts and tacos-and that is just my personal short list! Truly though, each of those things eases something “uncomfy” within me.
Mother Nature believes in no such concept. She simply is. And just as it's hot as blue blazes outside right now, it will get cooler, then it will be cold, and then warm again. What we, as the squishy human, have the ability to learn over time is the capacity to know that change is coming but to also find whatever noun you need for the now. We must revel in the strength or beauty or growth that comes with the present challenge as well as know that our seasons will change and we will find a different kind of noun in the next. My prayer, for all of us, is that we will embody a little bit of Mother Nature’s self confidence as we search for our nouns throughout the seasons of life.
Just as our nouns change each season, so do our rhythms; but it is our rhythms that ground us in our nouns. We can be strong because we have a rhythm of prayer or fellowship. We can find growth in our day because of our rhythm of garden walks. We can find calm, because of our rhythm of standing in the sun. We can find comfort, because of our rhythm of baking or coffee dates. We can find beauty in our day because of our rhythm of feeding our little hummingbirds. These nouns and rhythms give purpose to our days and mark time on our journey.
