Jazz @ Emmanuel – October 13 – A Season of Change

Autumn is for Dying

I know this sounds morbid, but as a gardener, it is hard watching all the luscious summer plants and flowers and trees die and turn brown.  Everything is dry, dry, and drying more. Then, we are in for a sable brown landscape till March. Blah.

I don’t remember focusing on this death cycle so much in the past.  The fall beauty usually takes center stage. Perhaps as an older adult, I am more aware of our human mortality right along with the vegetation.  I think I have always shunned death because I love life so much, but now, in my 70’s, I am all the more humble and sober about human mortality. Seeing my dog, my lovely companion go so quickly and sadly last year, as well as several friends and neighbors, has put death squarely in my face. Way too close. 

All Change is Loss

All change loss and there is always a death of sorts with change. And a reckoning. Even good change. We can have changes in our finances, changes in living conditions, changes in our health, changes in friendships or family, changes in our pets, changes in our diet, or the end of Daylight Savings! Something dies and makes way for something new. Changes beg for our appraisal and often mourning. Mourning means first of all, we are present to what is happening – both good and hard. Mourning means we are living and feeling fully. Mourning means we have lived in appreciation day by day. Mourning means we are real with ourselves that the future is necessarily uncertain. Change, even if positive, requires adaptation. Change asks us to trust. Change is rarely easy. But it is also inevitable. And life-giving in ways we cannot possibly anticipate.

Beauty Still Lives

Developing a realistic and optimistic relationship to change is worth the “undertaking,” if you will. And that only happens well when we take time to morn. Then we wash our faces, lift our heads, and “expect Jesus.” Because of the incredible nature of our God, there is always life in death. And even death has its own awe-inspiring beauty.  

Take a moment to acknowledge any changes taking place in your life. What part is initiated by you? What part “just is?” What is the loss in each case? What is new? And where is God? If we can bring ourselves to a place of trust, we just might be able to find that beauty, even in the process. And celebrate that.

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“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~ Romans 8:38-39

Join our Jazz Meditations, Readings, Message, and our Jazz Community on October 13th for
” A Season of Change”
See the Line-Up for the 2024-2025 Season here 

Read the WZUM Tribute to Dr. James Johnson, Jr. and Pam Johnson
For the Jazz Live Legacy Award, 2022 on The Scene
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