'Slow but steady wins the race' ~ Aesop

“Any act often repeated soon forms a habit; and habit allowed, steady gains in strength, At first it may be but as a spider's web, easily broken through, but if not resisted it soon binds us with chains of steel.” Tryon Edwards

[from Wikiedia: Tryon Edwards (1809 - 1894, Detroit,) was an American theologian, best known for compiling A Dictionary of Thoughts, a book of quotations. He published the works of Jonathan Edwards (the younger) in 1842. He also compiled and published the sixteen sermons of his great grandfather, Jonathan Edwards, on 1 Corinthians 13]

Just lately I have become aware of changes that have happened unbeknown to me. One I can explain and it links into the title quote for Aesop, ‘Slow and steady wins the race’. A year ago this January when my husband was hospitalized it was a long, long way each day from the parking lot to his room. This January, when the same thing occurred, the distance to the room seemed much shorter even though the rooms were actually about the same distance if not farther apart. What had made the difference? Starting in March of this year I had been walking regularly either outside or at the gym. Nothing extreme, just 15 - 30 minutes of gentle walking 5 times a week. I was not prepared for the difference it had made in my mobility.

The second event which happened about the same time is a little harder to explain. I’ve been doing some written reflecting on my experience over Christmas this year. All I know for sure was that it was much difference for last year. Not sure why, but here is what I wrote:

"Last year was the first Christmas in many years that I didn't attend church on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It was the first year that I didn't put out the crèche scene since making it in 1979. No carols were played, just seasonal, secular songs. And I didn't miss any if it. Going to the service of Lessons and Carols a week before Christmas had been an agony.

This year the crèche scene is out and carols have been added to the music selections. I had been thinking for weeks about going to a Christmas Eve service and was delighted when we finally decided on a Candlelight Service.

This year it felt comfortable, familiar, and enjoyable where the year before it all felt wrong. ‘Comfortable, familiar, & enjoyable’ are not words that I have wanted to use to describe my experience in church. They put church in the same category as a visit to the movies or a favourite restaurant. So am I now ready to accept that most times church can never be more than that for me - and that is OK.

So, WHY the difference? What has caused that difference? There had been no great ‘AHA’ moment, no blinding flash of light, but change had occurred nonetheless. I was able to enjoy the things that I could, while overlooking those things that didn't resonate with me [a growth in spiritual maturity?]. This time incremental steps that I had been unaware of were responsible for a significant change.

I only appreciated these changes because of the events in my life that had highlighted them both. Without my memory of the first event, or without the second event occurring, I would not have known of the transformation, for a transformation it is in both cases. Makes me wonder just what else I might be unaware of!!

What transformations have you undergone this past year?

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