Our Life’s Journey via Changes
Good morning, everyone
I’ve been thinking about our principles and how they can provide us with answers or help guide us in our contemplations. Further I started to think about the principles and how they could apply to all the changes that have occurred in the past year. World events, Marriages, Organization changes and the passing of my mom. Now looking forward to the next year and all the changes see in my future, empty nest, supporting our parents, and welcoming new babies.
Today I wanted to talk about Change how we think about it and choose to respond to it.
Change is really the one constant in our life journey. Change is not an exception in life; it is the very foundation of it.
Definition of Change
Change is the process by which something becomes different over time.
It is the movement or transition from one state, condition, or form to another.
At its core, change simply means difference unfolding through time. Change does not, by itself, imply improvement or decline but only alteration.
Every moment, changes are occurring whether we participate consciously or not. The sun rises and sets. The seasons turn from winter to spring, from spring to summer, from summer to fall, and back again. Days become weeks, weeks become months, months become years. Time moves steadily forward, never reversing and never pausing.
We rarely question these changes. We do not resist the arrival of autumn or fear the coming of winter. We may not look forward to the snow and cold but winter itself we do not fear. We accept them as part of the Natural Order, trusting that each season has a purpose, even when it brings discomfort or challenge. In the same way, we accept the passage of time without constant concern, knowing it moves beyond our control. Yet the passing of time is likely the most precious commodity that we have during our journey. Once it’s passed, we can never get it back, we cannot add more and we cannot slow it down or speed it up.
There is an important truth that we must understand and accept: change itself is neutral. Like the changing of the seasons, it is neither good nor bad, until we assign meaning to it through our thoughts, words, and actions.
It is through our thoughts that we label change as positive or negative. It is through our words that we reinforce that story. It is through our actions that we either align with the flow of change or struggle against it. In this way, change itself remains neutral, but our experience of it does not.
When two people encounter the same change, one may experience fear while another experiences opportunity. The difference is not the change, it is the lens through which it is viewed.
When it rains it may be negative given your plans for the day at the beach or the dinner at the top of the mountain. Remember through that rain brings the water for plants and animals to grow and thrive. The rain allowed us to have dinner in the clouds which in itself was amazing and a first for us. Even too much rain can be thought of as a disaster and yes people and things can be lost but it’s also an opportunity to create new and better prepare for the next rain fall.
We need to recognize change as natural. Its continual process allowing us to move out of resistance and into awareness. When we observe change rather than fear it, we become grounded in the understanding that life is meant to move, evolve, and unfold.
Spiritualism teaches us that we are responsible for the creation of our reality through thought, word, and deed. This means that while we may not choose every change that enters our lives, we always have a choice in how we interpret it and how we respond to it.
When we perceive change as a threat, we meet it with resistance and fear. When we perceive change as a teacher, we meet it with curiosity and growth. Neither response alters the change itself, but each response shapes its impact on our being and our spiritual journey. Embrace the rain and the peaceful beauty of it dripping from the leaves and washing way the dust.
Understanding the neutrality of change invites us into greater awareness. It encourages us to pause before reacting, to observe before judging, and to ask ourselves what story we are telling or being told about what is unfolding.
In doing so, we no longer see ourselves as victims of change but as conscious participants within it. Change becomes not something that happens to us, but something that reveals who we are becoming.
In all change there is really two realities that we have:
- Changes that we can influence and changes we cannot
Much of what happens around us, global events, economic shifts, social change, the passing of time, lies outside our direct influence. Yet these are often the very things that consume our attention and generate fear, anxiety, and worry.
When we invest emotional energy into what we cannot influence, we unknowingly energize low‑frequency through thought, word, and deed. We feed fear without creating change. Recognizing limits to our influence does not mean withdrawing compassion or becoming indifferent.
There are times when our actions cannot change an outcome, yet they can still relieve suffering, raise awareness, or express love in tangible ways. This is where indirect influence becomes spiritually meaningful.
For example, providing food, medical aid, or humanitarian support to people in the Gaza Strip or the Ukraine helps those individuals meet immediate needs and affirms their dignity and worth. Those actions may ease suffering and bring awareness to their situation. At the same time, such actions do not directly influence the existence or continuation of the war itself. The larger conflict remains outside our control.
This distinction is important. When our actions are motivated by compassion rather than by attachment to outcomes, we remain aligned with Natural Law. We act where we can, without demanding that the act resolve what lies beyond our influence. By observing the change without attachment we can look to the greater teach to be revealed to us from this change.
Spiritualism teaches personal responsibility for the creation of our reality through thought, word, and deed. That responsibility does not mean require us to fix the world or carrying the weight of the it. It means choosing wisely where our energy flows.
What we can influence is always within reach:
- How we respond
- How we speak
- How we choose hope over fear
- How we remain aligned with love, compassion, and understanding
Change that is beyond our influence invites acceptance with a level of understanding.
Change within our influence calls for conscious action aligning us to an outcome. This is including giving passion without expectation to indirectly influence what is beyond our influence.
I’m the first to resist change usually because change is often uncomfortable. Change asks us to release what is familiar and what we are comfortable with. But discomfort is not a sign of failure; it is a sign of movement and growth.
Rather than asking “Why is this happening to me?” our awareness of change asks:
- What can I learn from this?
- How can this change serve my growth?
- How can I respond in a way that aligns with my highest values?
When we worry about change, we remain stuck. When we engage with change consciously, we move into growth.
By choosing constructive thoughts, compassionate words, and purposeful deeds, we work in harmony with Natural Law, allowing change to shape us without diminishing us.
There is one change that many fear more than any other. We hear it often said that there are only two guarantees in life, taxes and death. We can take actions to reduce how much tax we pay, just as we can take actions to delay death through healthy living and wise choices. But taxes will come, and death will come, to every soul.
Death, from a Spiritualist perspective, is our natural and final change but it is not something to be feared, it is another transition in the ongoing journey of the soul.
We are here in the physical expression for a finite period of time. The body changes, ages, and eventually is released. But the soul does not end. The principle of the continuous existence of the soul and its personality, combined with eternal progress open to every soul, assures us that death is not an ending, it is a transformation. Some say that our passing is actually us waking up and returning to ourselves after experiencing this time on this physical plan.
Just as we move from childhood to adulthood, from one season to another, we move from the physical world to the spiritual world. The change is significant, but the journey continues.
Knowing this allows us to live more fully, love more openly, and fear less deeply.
In Conclusion
Change is constant. Our response is our responsibility.
While we cannot stop time or avoid the inevitable transitions of life and death, we can choose how we meet each moment. Actions create results according to Natural Law, and every choice we make shapes the reality we experience.
When we approach change, including the final change, with awareness, acceptance, and intention, we align ourselves with Infinite Spirit and participate consciously in our own eternal progress.
Change does not diminish us.
It refines us.
And through every change, we continue.
The Spiritualist Church of The Light 