Get Used to Different.

Scrolling through screens, talking to friends, overhearing conversations in line at the grocery store (from 6 feet away of course), the one thing I hear the most these days is "I can't wait for things to go back to the way they were."

But the thing is...I don't think we'll ever go back to things the way they were. Or at least we shouldn't.

Let me explain. When I hear someone longing for the good old, pre-COVID days, I think of a scene in The Chosen when Jesus calls Matthew to follow him and Peter isn't too wild about it. Jesus tells Peter, "Get used to different." I don't think I've ever really looked at these two characters together when coming across them in Scripture. But here they are: In the series, Peter is reckless, popular, and poor. Matthew is precise, a social outcast, and rich. There are things that Peter considers to be "normal," and Matthew doesn't fall anywhere within those boundaries. Peter even goes so far as to say "No...not him." (Can you imagine trying to negate the decision of the Lord? We would never do that in 2020....) But I think that Peter gets to a point where he realizes that there are some things that he has to leave behind, like his preconceived idea of who Matthew is and more importantly, his old self. Once you make the decision to truly and wholeheartedly follow the Lord, there is no going back.

I read something recently that said, "And yet, the mysterious quality about the human person is that he or she grows only through being thrust into transiency." If we want to grow, we have to remember that nothing in this world lasts long. Eventually even the things that have lasted a long time will also go away. We can't wait for Phase 2 (or if you live where I live, you may even settle for a real Phase 1.5 - whatever that means). But when Phase 2 is over, we hunger for Phase 3 and then Phase 4 and so on. It's because we realize that we aren't mean to stay in one place because we're supposed to change, even if we don't like change. We're supposed to grow even if it's a pain.

That means that every time I hear someone ache for "the way things were," I feel a little bit uncomfortable. Because if things were "the way they were," it means we're going backwards instead of forward. And I believe that what's in store is far more exciting than what's already happened. The things that I used to cling to are no more. People may argue that things aren't getting better. But in so many ways (the stuff of interior life in particular), things are getting better. I'm going to be honest. It's going to be hard. Anything worth receiving always is. My hope is that we will come out of this a little more confident, a little more resilient, a little more courageous, and above all, much more compassionate and loving.

Scripture doesn't tell us much about what happened with the apostles after Jesus' Resurrection and growth of the early Church. But in my imagination, Peter is more understanding, more pensive and more accepting when things don't go as planned. He stopped contributing to the annoyance of the times...or at least he tried. The point is that in the depths of his heart, he didn't become hard hearted when the need for change arose. He "got used to different," and I think that's something that we, if we want to grow, will also have to surrender to our desire for the past. And once we start moving, maybe we will see that walking forward is easier and more rewarding than walking backwards, revisiting the past, and staying blind to the future that awaits to greet us.

By the way, if you haven't watched The Chosen yet, I STRONGLY recommend it!