Have you ever played a game? One that made you keep your attention on it all the time? Like tennis, or bridge, or Pong?
Do you remember the first video games? Pong was so simple, just a ball bouncing from wall to wall on the screen and the players trying to catch it. Yet it fascinated us and kept us playing with our full attention.
It would put today’s gamers fast asleep.
Oh, how those games have changed. George Bernard Shaw said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
We live in a world of continual transformation, a universe in constant flux. Even the Earth we live upon is active and alive. We cannot stop this any more than we can stop the sun from rising in the sky.
What we can accept is our ability to thrive and to move forward.
There is an old song whose lyrics say, “There’ll be a change in the weather, there’ll be a change in the sea, and from now on there’ll be a change in me.”
Choose your change. For the most part, we can, you know. If we’re serious about changing when life changes, we will find a way. If not, any excuse will do.
We have just gone past the fall equinox on our calendars. Fall is the season of letting go, preparing for the holiday times ahead and the quiet of winter.
Although we don’t have the golden leaves of autumn that are present in many parts of our country, we can be like those trees and show our glorious colors. Love the experience and release it, assured that the new is coming in its perfect season.
If you have something in your life that it is time to release, you can use the energy and symbology of this time of year to do so, knowing the universe will bring the new.
We can keep the game of living alive with curiosity and wonder as it changes pace, just like the video games of the past. We can let the glorious “old” drop away just like the autumn leaves. We can play the game of life knowing each day presents us with countless opportunities to learn, grow and make a positive impact on the world around us.
We can thrive together!
The Rev. Linda McNamar is a Laguna Woods Village resident.
