A few years ago, there was an advertising campaign that had an important-sounding slogan: “This Changes Everything!” That’s an ambitious thing for an advertisement to say. What a bold claim, that, once people experienced this new thing, they could never go back to the life they had lived before. Everything would have to be different.
But now, only a few years later, I have to admit that I don’t remember what was being advertised. So I’d say that in spite of those lofty words, whatever that company was offering didn’t really “change everything.”
On the other hand, we now find ourselves living in a time when those words really do apply. When we think about what life looks like in the time of COVID, we can say without fear of exaggeration, “this changes everything.” We can point to numerous ways in which our lives have already changed significantly. And even as we begin to think about and talk about what life after COVID will look like, we know that going back to the way things used to be is probably not going to happen. The world has changed in some important and fundamental ways.
In that sense, the COVID experience has reminded all of us of one basic truth in life: everything changes. Nothing remains the same forever. There’s an old saying that you can’t step into the same river twice. The water keeps moving, and the life around it keeps changing. So even the things that seem constant really aren’t.
It’s a humbling idea, isn’t it? We sometimes think that we can exercise enough control over our circumstances to provide lasting security for ourselves and our loved ones. We want to create things that will endure and will always be there. But in fact, the world around us often refuses to accommodate our wishes. There is a dimension of life that is larger than any of us.
As spiritual people, we are called to recognize that larger dimension of life. And however we refer to that larger dimension, it helps us to have a greater awareness of our own fragility and of the changes that happen to all of us. Hopefully, that awareness leads us to live with gratitude for the day that we have been given, as well as a desire to use the time we have to be of service and help to others.
I don’t know about saying “this changes everything.” But it’s fair to say that “everything changes.” And because everything changes, we need to treasure what is before us today.
I hope that gives you some food for spiritual thought.
You can contact Chaplain Larry Lindstrom at larry.lindstrom@sinclair.edu.
Chaplain Larry Lindstrom