Inability to Change

“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:..18-19 NIV)

Change is difficult. In an era when our politicians have promised change, it is unlikely that any “real” change will occur. We have politicans expecting an entire industry to become “viable” in 4 months, by March 31, and by the way, fire all of your CEOs. We will help you by asking you to make frequent reports and by appointing a czar to oversee your operations. At the end of that time we want cheap electric cars that can be plugged into the wall socket overnight.

We want free health care with no rationing of services and high quality of care. We want financing for our homes and cars and we want our homes to hold their value. We want honest politicians who will not sell the powers of their office to the highest bidder.

Oprah wants to be able to lose weight and keep it off. She’s ashamed that she hasn’t been able to do that. She recently wanted to cancel an appearance because she looked like a “fat cow.”

On a personal level, I want to change. At times I lose hope and believe that I cannot carry out my desire to do good. A mentor used to talk about the orange groves of Anaheim, CA. He would recall that on a spring night when he was growing up he could hear the trees groaning with the effort of producing fruit. Of course, this was not true, trees do not strain to produce fruit. They produce fruit as a result of what they are.

Awakening to who we are is probably the most difficult task faced by each of us. This awakening is produced in a context of redemption and salvation. And it is easy to fall back asleep and to dream the messages of our upbringing rather than the message of our ingrafting.

So I will say it again. Change is difficult. But there is hope…