The Changed, the Changing

“I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift.”– Dodinsky

“Blessed are you dear one, when the world around you has changed. Everything is different now. Your body, your age, your relationships, your job, your faith. The things that once brought you joy. The way you existed in the world. The people you love and trust and rely on. Things have changed and it would be silly to imagine you haven’t changed with them. You are not who you once were. Bless that old self. They did such a good job with what they knew. They made you who you were. All the mistakes and heartbreak and naivety and courage and blessed are who you are now. You who aren’t pretending that things are the same and who continue to grow and stretch and show up to your life as it really is. Wholehearted, vulnerable, maybe a little afraid. So blessed are we the changed.” – Kate Bowler

Follow the seasons for cues and clues, directions.
Everchanging, wandering, transforming.
Dirt to bud to bloom, to dormancy, back to life again and again.
Cycles and circles.
Rarely linear.
Made new in the delays and detours.
Shaped and stretched in the struggle.
Resilient, soft and strong.
The work of transition, the fruit of transformation.
Blessed are we the changed, the changing.

“There is something so special in the early leaves drifting from the trees–as if we are all to be allowed a chance to peel, to refresh, to start again.”– Ruth Ahmed