Turn and Face the Strange

"Change" is the big catch word right now. It's being used to the point of losing all meaning.

I can change my clothes, the sheets on my bed, my name, the tv channel (lately the tv is as likely OFF), the thread in my sewing machine, and, quite often, my mind. Of course, on that last one, if I happen to be in the room with a Republican, I will automatically and inevitably be tagged a 'flip-flopper', Republicans famously being unable to relate to the idea of changeable factors in the midst of an experience. In that case, I am reminded of a Lutheran joke. Q: How many Missouri Synod Lutherans does it take to change a lightbulb? A: Change? Please understand I was raised in the Missouri Synod, although I am now ELCA, a more liberal (and therefore more open to change) branch of Lutheranism.

So I am curious about where this sudden rabid usage of the word 'change' will take us. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have been whipping that word out with such radical liberalism of usage! It's amazing and amusing.

What makes rampant use of the word 'change' so very amusing is how inevitable it naturally is. We often don't have either control or say over how or when change happens, or even whether it happens.

Speaking of 'whether', weather is one excellent example of the sort of change we can't fully anticipate (though we certainly try) and definitely can't control. Some are seasonal. Some involve animals migrating or hibernating. Some are mercurial changes, and very unexpected, as we are seeing now and in the past weeks. Tornados in January -- in the Midwest? The storms in California -- what a nightmare. And it actually snowed in parts of Florida. That's a change!

I know these are not the changes politicians are refering to, but it illustrates my point about how they are not being clear about their use of the word 'change'. All they say is 'we need change', 'I'll bring change', 'those other candidates are more of the same; I'll be a change in Washington'... but no one is telling us what kind of change they want to bring.

I want to see and hear specifics. I want to hear concrete commitments to solid concepts. I am sick and tired of castles in the sky. I want solutions. I want a burning bush. (Purely a Biblical reference, NOT a reference to a currently serving top-ranking public servant lame-duck.) Those are the changes I want.