“Change and decay in all around I see. O thou who changest not, abide with me.”

“Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.”

Hymn: "Abide with Me" - Henry Lyte (1793-1847)

Tune: EVENTIDE

[I admit that with all that is coming undone in our society right now, there is plenty of “change and decay in all around I see.” However, for this entry, I chose to approach the Hymn Line from a different angle. Either way, it is God’s abiding presence we covet.]

You know you've become an Old Fogy when the word "change" sends shivers down your spine. Well, I seem to be there now; I'm thinking of changing my name to O. F. Huff! -- Oops, that would be yet another change!

It's easy to see the change around us in the world -- the decay of the moral compass, etc. Some of the changes are wonderful, of course: like cell phones and computers. My college dictionary definition of the word computer was "one who computes"! We live in an ever-changing and (for the most part) ever-improving time in history.

In recent years, a great church I served in Denver has "gone out of business," and the building has been bull-dozed -- that great pipe organ sold for a small percentage of its worth. The conference center in Glorieta, New Mexico associated with many fond memories of worship and fellowship has been sold, and that total experience can never be replicated. Beautiful church sanctuaries are being replaced with modern, icon-free worship centers. And one of the most difficult changes for me is the trend toward non-use of the hymnal in worship; I call it "off the wall" singing!

I could wallow in this if I allowed myself to, and I have to be honest by saying that I occasionally go to that pig pen and slather myself with gloom and despair -- because I see so much change in the church-world as being decay: so many of the things I value are dying away. I've got to get over it; I know that. But it's my blog, and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to. You would cry, too, if it happened to you.

And I bet it has happened to you: some paradigm-shift has invaded your spiritual pilgrimage and seems to impede your progress. John Bunyan has nothing on us! Like the Pilgrim's progress, unloading our baggage at the cross may be our best tactic.

Wouldn't it be better if we focused on the changes that are happening for the good - in the world and in the church? Wouldn't a positive attitude send us less frequently to the pig pen?

O thou who changest not, work on me so this O.F. can adjust to change -- and maybe involve himself in bringing some decaying situations back to life!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu7MffwBwfY

Cynthia Clawson on Gaither Homecoming