Change and Transition

 

The ornamental look of our garden is missing now in this monsoon season. For most of the normal months, the Lilies were in bloom and small eye catching birds like Javan Munia were moving between lawns  finding their feed from the grass floor. They added to the colourfulness of the garden and gave a vibrant look. 

Now there are Mynas, who are often found drenched in the rain, occupying perches to dry their wings with wind and sunlight. There are occasional buds in the rose bushes. The rose plants suffer with incessant rain and little sunlight during the day. The floor is wet which is not what rose plants need- dry soil just wet enough.  

The seasonal changes on account of the environmental conditions used to be less pronounced earlier. Now the changes affect normal life of plants and birds more. 

I have had time to dwell on the theme of change and transition from the experience of seeing our garden, show signs of change and transition during this season. 

In the book Spirituality, a guide for Explorers, Pilgrims, and Seekers, David Runcorn expanded on the theme of change and transition (p169).

'Change is about the outer, practical task of moving house, office or job from A to B, for example. Transition is the inner psychological, emotional, relational, spiritual adjustments that I must make in order to live well with the outer change. Change is about where we are going. Transition is about what we are leaving. Change is about beginnings. Transition is about endings'. 

'It helps to realise that even in the most chaotic change, there are always three basic stages to be lived through. Firstly there will be the task of letting go- of leaving and making endings. There will be the final hope and longing of an arriving somewhere new. And between these two is the place that is neither one or the other...Human becoming is never a tidy process' ! (p169)

The above two paragraphs from the book introduced me to think about change and transition in a personal way. 

It is now 14 months since I left my full time professional work and is adapting to be at home, engaged in some interesting and fulfilling experiences of relating and supporting others. In this change process, I left behind forty-five years of a pioneering experience in a new speciality of child development of children, who have had Neuro-developmental challenges. 

While the change was definable, I am yet to fully define the transition and its path towards the arrival to a new position of being, as an interior experience. 

I felt comforted by the comments of David Runcorn (P170): 'Arrivals and new beginnings may be marked by feelings of new energy, direction and vision. But they may also be a bit unsettling and frightening. It is still unknown. A lot is at stake. Will it be what I hoped for?'.

There is a bit wandering in the 'neutral zone' between the old and the new. 'It is a vital stage to live in faithfully, if we are to be able to let go of what must pass and to embrace the new. But the neural zone is an uncomfortable place. It feels like a wilderness'. 

I felt encouraged by David's proposal, 'Leaders in the neutral zone will easily feel like failures because it is not clear what they should be doing. It is a waiting time that can feel like wasting time' (p171).

The final sentences in this section gave the clarity that I needed. 'The neutral zone is a vital place of preparation and spiritual development. This is the place where we complete our leavings and are made ready to enter the new. It must not be rushed or cut short....' The temptation of this phase of waiting is twofold- to return to the old life or hurry to enter into a new phase unprepared! (P171).

The 'spirituality in transition times' involves experiencing God as the changer and the transformer! (p172).

It was while focussing on the changes in the garden, I felt guided to the dimension of transition related to my new season in life. The faith and hope needed, while navigating the transition, was what I witnessed  in the lives of some of the people that I am familiar with. 

When Professor late C.K.Job of CMC Vellore gave his attention to research in leprosy to find the Neuro-pathological effects of leprosy in causing foot and hand deformities, many wondered about the long term benefits of this work. But it was late Dr Paul Brand of CMC Vellore, who applied this information to start the reconstructive surgery to restore the functions of hand and foot of those, who had deformities following leprosy. During conversations with both of them, they referred to a neural zone in their lives. They carried on with what seemed right to them, although they had to wait for a few years, till they knew the benefit of their efforts to make changes in belief and practice of caring for those who suffered from leprosy!

I feel encouraged that change and transition are two experiences, each person is called to welcome and move on to explore new frontiers of being and doing!

The neutral zone is a season of 'disorientation and reorientation'. David quoted an unknown author, 'change is the angel of the changeless God'! (p272). He quoted a prayer, 'we who are wearied by the chances and changes of this fleeting world, may rest upon your eternal changelessness'!

M.C.Mathew(tex and photo)