I Was Just Thinking BLESSED FOR A CHANGE
	APRIL 2005

by Don Huntington, Editor In Chief

(A devil speaking) If we neglect our duty, men will be not only be contented but transported by the mixed novelty and familiarity of snowdrops this January, sunrises this morning, plum pudding this Christmas. ... Only by our incessant efforts is the demand for infinite, or unrhythmical, change kept up. (CS Lewis)

I’ve been in a process of learning the absolutely wonderful truth behind today’s quote. The older and wiser I become in the ways of heaven and earth, the more clearly I see, and enjoy beyond measure — am “transported by,” to use CS Lewis’ term — the normal rhythms in life. Even the daily cycles of sunrise, sunset, eating, sleeping, and working are filled with contentment and joy.

The blossoms of springtime have already been lifting my heart for many weeks. I have keen anticipation for the deliberate segue of springtime bloom into summer fruit and leaf — then into the beautiful and delicious fall harvests, and then into the lively Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas festivities. I begin enjoying spring with the first buds that I can see on the trees. The colors of fall even in Northern California make my heart hurt at times, they are so beautiful. I begin singing Christmas Carols the day after Halloween.

The older I get the more I want to slow this all down; hold time back so I can savor even more thoroughly the sounds, scents, and the romance that belongs to each wonderful season as it comes to bless my life, and then fades into the joys of the season to follow.

I even relish the cadences of the individual weeks! On Monday morning I’m usually the first person in the office, I get to work with keen anticipation of the gifts that Heaven will send my way during the week ahead. I love the weekends and enjoy leisurely Saturday mornings with my wife, Sundays at church with my friends and my God, and popcorn on Sunday evenings.

Each separate day comes with rhythms that renew and bless my life. Morning workout at the gym, a delicious cup of coffee, the cheerful energy of my office coming to life, the pleasure of greeting my fellow-workers, a tasty lunch enjoyed with family members or friends, afternoons full of satisfying work and cheerful banter with my office mates, the pleasures of dinner, enjoyment of ten pages of a good novel in bed, and then falling into welcome sleep.

How many times have I rejoiced as I closed my eyes in the realization that I had spent an entire day full of happy challenges and good people, without a single unpleasant moment in it!

My entire life has been a series of changes and developments, analogous to a single day. During the early spring and summer periods I experienced some tough weather. Now that I’m in the middle of my fall years, however, I’ve learned to appreciate the patterns of the ways in which my life seems to be continually blessed. The night of death is surely coming, but I’m planning to experience my demise

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
… as master Bryant advised.

In today’s quote, from CS Lewis’ incomparable Screwtape Letters, the arch-demon, Screwtape, notes that my joyful embracing of life would be the experience of everyone if they, the devils, were not diligent at their work. I don’t know about that, but I do know, by the grace of Heaven, my life is unspoiled by any sinister agency whatsoever. It seems that a wide space has been cleared for me where I am sheltered from any dark or dysfunctional powers.

I seem to be living my life in an extensive space in which the endless “novelty and familiarity” of existence becomes beautiful by the light of grace. My continual satisfaction reminds me of the words of my favorite hymn:

Morning has broken like the first morning;
     Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning!
     Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!
Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning
     Born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation! Praise every morning
     God’s recreation of the new day!

I’m so grateful that the cadences in my life — the daily, seasonal, quarterly, yearly, and decade-long rhythms — provide a never-failing source of fuel for my experience of joy.

My whole life is a rock symphony; I’m up on my feet and I’m dancing!