Night of the Living Dead

We just got home from our weekly, (at least), trip to Super Walmart for groceries. They are in the process of remodeling the store. They are repainting and replacing flooring and bathroom fixtures, etc. But they are also moving stuff around. The sporting goods are where the crafts used to be and the crafts are where the garden stuff was, and kids clothes are where the linens and things were, and electronics are where the shoes were. You get the picture. But the most confounding thing is that they moved the food around. As we walked up and down the aisles I saw people wandering around like zombies searching for the soup and the chips and everything that once was in this aisle but isn't now. A lot of people like my wife tend to write their lists based on where an item is in the store. Now that things are moved an imprint of the store which is sadly hard wired on our brains will have to change. We grumble about it but change is inevitable.

I am trying not to complain because as I pastor I introduce change into the church. And then I complain about people grumbling about the change. For some it is a minor inconvenience for others it rocks their world. This doesn't mean things don't need to change. In fact despite the best efforts of some change is inevitable. What I need to remember as a pastor is that even if I carefully explain the change and warn people in advance change will still confound some folks and it will take time for everyone to adapt. For some people change rocks their world and they really have a hard time recovering. They feel they have little or no control over a lot of things so when things like Walmart or their church change it creates tension and uneasiness.

I have more thoughts but they can wait. This much typing is hard on the old shoulder. I guess I have a new prospective on change now that is worth thinking about.