Contentment

As you could imagine, my job involves conversations of all sorts with people seeking change in their lives. People seeking to begin families, start new jobs or hoping to get married.

People often request a conversation with a pastor when they want something new. They want their youth to start coming to youth group and begin to take school more seriously. They want to know what it means to be baptized. They want to move houses and are not sure it is the best time. I stay busy talking about change.

In my personal life with friends outside of work, the same type of conversations prevail as well. I have friends who are newly engaged, friends who want to be engaged but are not. I have friends who are having babies and those that wish they could. I have friends seeking new jobs and those who have just started a new one. I have friends who are trying to find their vocational calling and whatever that means for their lives.

In all of these cases, it seems that the common thread is a lack of contentment. There is something that is pushing all of these people I know to seek a change. This push leads people to begin to take steps to motify their situation to a more pleasurable level.

Change, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing. If we didn't constantly adapt and try new things throughout our lives growth would not occur. However, the more I've thought about it recently, the more I've realized that contentment is something that all of need more of, especially as life doesn't often change as fast as we want it to.

While it is hard to be happy sometimes when there are things about your current life situation that we would like to be different, I know there are always things that we can enjoy at any stage of our lives, I think. There are always moments of joy, places of comfort, and words of encouragement that can be found in any situation-- no matter hard it is.

I don't want to sound like Pollyanna (and trust me, I don't prescribe to Pollyanna theology . . . ask my husband as we debate about this all the time). But, at the same time, I do feel strongly that it is good to be in the moment of life wherever this is for TODAY. Even though I often stink at my own advice here.

The goodness of the Christian faith tradition is that we are exhorted to have hope that the Divine is looking out for us, walking alongside us, and always constructing a Plan B when we think all is lost.

So, today, I'm reminding myself of all the goodness that is with me on this life journey with hope for what is ahead and asking you possibly do the same.