02-20-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
February 20, 2026
What does it mean to have a change of heart? What does it mean to experience a dramatic revelation that pretty much turns everything one previously believed on its head? When we begin to question some aspect of life, something we've been fully committed to in the past, we find it more difficult than we might have guessed. Often, many aspects of our lives are woven into whatever that previous belief might have been. Cherished relationships sometimes exist only because of that old ideology. Over the years, I have walked alongside people who no longer held certain beliefs, but for one reason or another, they continued to play the game. Change is hard! In fact, it can be extraordinarily painful to admit that something you were once quite passionate about is, in fact, nonsense and an absolute farce. Yet history is filled with people who have had a change of heart or something even more dramatic, yet they made the decision to align themselves fully with their new conviction. Some of the more angry people I have met in life are those who have continued to live the lie in the full knowledge that it is a lie. The anger is the cognitive dissonance irritating the inconsistency like a prickly wool sweater rubbing against a bad rash in your armpit (Was the illustration a bit too random? Not for me). The realization of a needed change and the actual first step toward that new thing might be further apart than a person wants, but if you show yourself some grace, then you will look at the cognitive dissonance as nothing more than good motivation to make the change.

Your prophets have frequently urged us to change, O Mighty God, yet our stubbornness can be quite embarrassing. Thank you for your grace, which continues to employ whatever means are necessary to guide our first step toward a more faithful and consistent life. Amen.