Change: Connecting With Our EssenceSample

During the persecution, suspicion ran high among the brothers regarding visitors. Some may have recalled Paul's past as a persecutor and questioned his credibility. Paul countered, reminding them of the year and a half he spent with them (Acts 18). He could have asked if he didn’t have friends to vouch for him or if a letter of recommendation was necessary. Often, our past wounds and traditions lead us to prioritize former titles over present realities, and clinging to the past can hinder our ability to engage with the present.

Human prejudice or condemnation specializes in this: It makes us unable to see what God has done in the other and, therefore, prevents us from receiving from him or her. We get stuck in an obsolete past and cannot see what the other person became by God's Grace.

An author said that before writing a book, a person must become the book he is going to write, and Paul would tell them, "It is good for a letter to talk about you, but it is better to become the letter."

Another beautiful truth is that sometimes we believe that change is a historical fact that happened in the past. But in God, change is always present, Paul tells us; My letters are your beating hearts.

It occurs to me that if Paul had trusted himself to make that kind of change, he would have chosen two paths: one, reproducing small "Pauls" with the same defects, and two, generating a toxic dependence through a spiritual umbilical cord that does not give them freedom. In both cases, he would have failed miserably.

But he, having been divinely enabled through Christ to speak of a new covenant, knew he was planting a seed that was not his own. He trusted that this seed had the power to germinate with the power of the Spirit, overcoming the excitement of a Sunday meeting to develop a process of growth that could keep a heart beating.

Perhaps one of our worst failures when we want to bring about change in others is to tie them to our capacity, convenience, or destiny, like a messiah of clay. The best change manager is the one who connects people to eternal life-giving presence and essence.

With what eyes do we look at the other? Do we look at him as God sees him? Can we see the divine work in his life?

What change do we intend to achieve in others? One in our image and likeness?

May God grant us the opportunity to embrace a transformative relationship that invites others to connect their hearts with the Spirit who can give them life. Amen