Accepting Challenge and Change

Challenges are inevitable in life.  If we avoid challenges, we stay as we are.  This can seem the more comfortable path, the path of least resistance, but ultimately, it hurts us more than it helps us.  If we never do things that are hard, we never have a chance to grow.  Think about a task you now view as mundane and easy, like tying your shoes.  You don’t fully realize how difficult tying your shoes really is until you try to teach a child how to do it.  At one point in your life, you had the same trouble (unless you picked it up really easily).  Other examples might be riding a bicycle, operating a computer, or figuring out the latest feature on a new cell phone.

But, you might say, the kids can do it so much easier than me.  That’s because they’ve grown up with these things.  They’ve had more exposure to them, especially when it comes to technology.

Perhaps the best example of a challenging activity for adults is learning a new language.  We are able to speak, read, and write our native language as adults because it’s what we grew up with.  It’s what we’ve had the most exposure to and experience with.  Learning a new language, especially one very dissimilar to your native language, can be very challenging.  You might be tempted to give up.  But if you stick with it, slowly, it becomes easier and more intuitive.  You just need to have patience and perseverance

The same can be said for challenging yourself spiritually, or adjusting to changes in your church environment.  The third edition of the Roman Missal began implementation almost nine years ago, in Advent of 2010.  There are still times when adults will use the wording of the prayers from the previous edition because it’s what we grew up with.  It’s what we know “the best”.  Whereas, kids going through catechesis today learn the new versions first, so they know those better.  I know, as a cantor, I picked up the newer wording more quickly because I was exposed to it often, multiple times each weekend in some cases.

So, when changes are made in church, whether it is to the environment or to the liturgy itself, challenge yourself to have patience and perseverance.  Find out more about why changes are being made.  Understanding more about the reasons for change often aid in accepting change.  But most importantly, accept that you may feel some opposition toward change at first.  That is normal and human.  Realize as well, that you don’t want to be stuck with "untied shoes" spiritually forever.  You have to work at it if you want things to get easier.