Almost every night during the fall, winter, and spring, I sit in our hot tub and look at the stars – always in wonderment and sometimes, prayerfully – although perhaps they are the same thing.

When the moon is visible at night, I watch as the light that is reflected, from one evening to the next, is always constantly changing. I suppose it is changing even as I look at it, although not perceptible to my sensory tools. But, I do believe the change is perceptible to my spirit. From fall to spring I watch as the stars and the constellations move across the sky. Right now, Venus and Jupiter are hogging the spotlight with their brilliance in the early evening western sky.

I find it interesting when people say that they don’t like change. If that is truly so, they are living on the wrong planet and probably even the wrong universe. Change is everywhere, although we often don’t notice it until… Hey! “Hey, it is a full moon. Hey, look at those blossoms! Hey, when did that child get so big?”

Looking out back of our place, I can see the California Coastal Mountain Range as it runs in a north-south direction. The sunset travels down and back up and then back down over the course of the year as it sinks into those mountains. It really is quite awesome to watch the subtle changes and the colors of the dramatic sunsets are also constantly changing. “Oh, look at it now!” You can notice the changes with the length and direction of your shadow upon the ground too. Even my shadow is changing.

The older I get, the more time I have been blessed with observing how people change too, especially as they age. Usually I see one of two things happening. Some people seem to gravitate more toward negativity. They become cynical, suspicious, self-absorbed or one of the many other negative traits that I am capable of. Generally, this person reflects a sense of hopelessness providing no light for others in the darkness. The older they get, the deeper these traits seem to get embedded within their personality.

Other people, although still with their attitudinal challenges, seem attracted to traits such as compassion, faith, forgiveness, a forward-looking vision, curiosity or any number of other positive attitudes which produces a sense of hopefulness, gratitude and creates sort of a wisdom shadow that is visible and appreciated by those around them. They produce a different energy. Like a full moon, they provide light for those difficult midnight journeys of life.

What about staying the same? Well, if you are able to stay the same, the exact same, you might be the only thing in this world to do so…except maybe the constant speed of light – which is kind of interesting when you think about it.