For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. – 1 Corinthians 13:12

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” – Genesis 4:7

CHANGE!

Here we are. A New Year. A new outlook. A new title. A new header picture. A new blog.

So why all this “new”? What’s the appeal? And why can’t – and why shouldn’t – things just remain the same? Or, maybe, even roll back to “The Good Old Days?” What are you, Derek Maul, one of those darned Progressives?

It’s a good question. Or, rather, those are good questions. Change for change’s sake is often counterproductive. However, reinvention is part of the definition of life. Growth, recalibration, maturation, evolution, transformation, renewal, metamorphosis – however nuanced – these are necessary elements of any organism, institution, or entity that values life.

Back in high school, when Rebekah was in her last year, her principal bragged that he “hadn’t read a book since graduating college.” He represented a culture that was suspicious of anything that might rock the status quo of “the way things are” – he already knew all he needed to know and he felt threatened by change.

I know that I’ve made the following point before, but it’s a truth worth hammering until it gains some traction; There is only one direction in which to live, and that is forward.

THERE IS ONLY ONE DIRECTION IN WHICH TO LIVE, AND THAT IS FORWARD.

We can learn from the past, and it’s critically important that we do so, but we cannot repeat it. The good news here is that there is not a single human being on the face of this Good Earth who would not benefit from some positive change. We all know God incompletely. We all have much to learn when it comes to understanding scripture. Our practice of love is imperfect. Our relationships are fraught with selfishness and inconsistency. There’s not a single church in the world that gets everything right. Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you. Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

So I am looking to growing and reinventing this year. I am committed to continuing this pilgrimage along the road less traveled by, and I plan to share my journey via this blog.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. (Robert Frost)

May it make all the difference for each one of us – DEREK