The shoes that I put on today are 12 years old. They have been resoled twice. They fit my foot like a glove. I can't imagine not having them. But, there was once a time when they were new, different and stiff. My feet hurt anytime I wore them. My self esteem questioned whether or not they were a good fit for me. But, that is all in the past now, I never think about those times, I just always put on "my" shoes and enjoy them.
Everything that we are comfortable with now, was once brand new, innovative and uncomfortable. The ideas seemed preposterous at the time. Sell our church and move to the highway. Have church in a hospital. Start a contemporary service. Go to four services on Sunday morning. Each of those ideas and many more, we have grown comfortable with. What was once new and frightening, is now accepted and the norm, the familiar, the shoe that fits.
And so the moral of the story is this- when you see a change on the horizon, when you see a paradigm shift coming, it will always feel like a new pair of shoes. For a while. Give it time. Focus on the goals of the change, not the discomfort that you may feel. Take joy in the new and celebrate that we are not simply reaching for the oxygen masks as a congregation.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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1 comment:
What a great analogy. I understand it totally, but there is still that time of sadness when you know that the comfortable shoes, the ones that fit so well, have to go. Taking joy in the new is hard when you're still mourning the loss of the old.
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