In a recent sermon I commented on having attended a reunion of my high school graduating class (okay, it was the 45th). A classmate jumped up and shouted, “Cole Fowler! You haven’t changed a bit!” Well, it certainly was a nice compliment, albeit erroneous!

As I look back, I see how much I’ve changed over the years. Things I took for granted I now see having enormous value. Positions I took as bedrock now look more as sand. What others held as true and I discounted, have now become a part of me. For the most part I have handled change as a part of growing, maturing. And in time I have welcomed them.

Still, the quick changes tend to leave me, at least for the moment, slightly off balance. I have often found myself resembling Peter. . . .impetuous, quick to act, foot in mouth, Peter. Remember the story in Acts 10. Peter has his world turned upside down when the Holy Spirit comes to him in a vision. As he looks at the large cloth holding an assortment of reptiles, creatures and birds, a voice says, “Eat”, and Peter says no for he considers the food to be profane and unclean to a Jew. The lesson is that anything God makes is okay, even Gentiles! Accepting Gentiles is not a trivial matter for the observant Jew, and this lesson touches the core of Peter’s faith and a 180 degree reversal of practice. While there are still aspects of my faith to which I firmly cling, there are many positions I find I now hold with less firmness. God continues to call me to new perspectives, ways of viewing and acts of love. All that I might grow closer to God.

Still In One Peace,

Cole