Psychologists tell us that people tend to view change in terms of loss. That is, when our lives are disrupted we are prone to focus on what’s been taken away rather than what we’ll gain. That fact was perfectly illustrated by Tom Froehlich’s “porcupine in the pajamas” analogy.
Imagine waking up tonight to find, for a change, a porcupine in your pajamas. Now this would be change you did not invite and do not want to entertain for long. And you would definitely view it in terms of loss… loss of sleep, loss of peace and comfort, loss of self-control (hence the bloodcurdling screams), and probably a little loss of blood, too!
But something good might also result from that unwelcome shakeup. I imagine that with a burst of adrenaline you would be up and moving, the cobwebs of sleep instantly obliterated. No more drowsy dreamland, no obnoxious snoring, no mindless slapping the snooze on the alarm. Like it or not, it would be “time to fish or cut bait.”
Something like our situation at FAC. We’re in the midst of change we did not invite, and we’re not exactly urging it to make itself at home. We’ve experienced a loss of peace and comfort and control. Hopefully nobody has lost any blood yet – but maybe some sleep. Yes, change brings loss.
But change brings gains, too. Let’s say, for example, that we had grown just comfortable enough in our former state that it was time for a shakeup. Maybe we’d even begun ignoring the voices that sounded a warning, “It’s time to be up and moving! Seize the day! Make the most of every opportunity!” Maybe we’d begun to like our daydreams better than reality, and gotten used to the sound of our own snoring. Maybe God just has something great up ahead, and He’s getting us ready – through change.
Those sharp prickly pinpoints of change can clear the head pretty quickly. It can make us sit up and take notice of our surroundings. And it says in a voice firm and loud, “This is the new reality. This is where God is leading; don’t miss it. Heads up. Listen carefully. Follow closely. Trust implicitly. Christ means to redeem everything and work everything together for your good. Keep faith in the Lord of the Church…
“And get out of those pajamas, anyway. It’s ‘way past noon and you deserve a companion like that porcupine.” Well, God’s probably not saying that… but maybe something close!
Alan Redpath wrote, “There is nothing, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has come past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose.”
No porcupine of change has wriggled into FAC’s pj’s without God’s permission. No quill has dug in without His purpose. May we embrace both the purpose and the benefits as He intends.
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