Yesterday I attended a memorial service for a fellow colleague-ordained in the ELCA and married almost 60 years serving in Crawfordsville, Indiana and the surrounding area. In greeting his widow I asked her about how her life and how she is doing given this loss. She described how the timing had been helpful to have her two out of state children and grandchildren around for Thanksgiving and this weekend.
After such a tragedy as the loss of a long time spouse, this widow said you just get used to a “new normal!” I can’t get that term out of my head today….a “new” normal. Doesn’t that describe health care? Doesn’t that happen often in our lives? Something dramatic changes, in our work, our personal lives, or in our home and we now have to live a new normal. It doesn’t have to be a loss of a spouse, it can encompass many other things in life. And this is hard stuff. It’s hard to adopt/adapt to a new normal. Most of us probably would rather not, thank you very much. We always like things the way they used to be and change is difficult. The joke goes “How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? Answer is “Change, what’s change?” Or the other quip “the only one who likes change is a wet baby!”
What is the “new normal” for your local Via de Cristo Secretariat? Or for you personally as it relates to VDC. Has it been awhile since you served on team or sponsored a candidate/pilgrim? It’s your turn, now , God is calling you and all of us to step up, create a new normal for our local movement, and share Christ with the world!
We need something constant in this ever changing life as we create “new normal” all the time. As the calendar marches us full steam ahead into December and Christmas and the New year we give thanks to God for being the steady force in an unsteady life. God is the only thing I can think of that will stay the “old normal” and through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection be the “new normal” at the same time. No matter how much things change around us, God never does. Hebrews 13:8 in our Bible “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever” And I say, thanks be to God!!
Pastor Doug Givan
Chaplain
St. Vincent Clay (Brazil)
St. Vincent Seton Specialty (Indpls.)
Eric is our current Webmaster and works on the NLS Communications Team. Raised in Judaism, he found Christ and the New Testament at age 16 in a Southern Baptist Church. He searched many denominations for the real church, only to find the Holy Spirit is present in all of them. He's worked for One for Israel, a group of native Israeli believers who are sharing the gospel in the holy land in Hebrew and is part of the only Hebrew speaking seminary in Israel.
