Circumstances change from time to time. In fact, our situation and circumstances seem to change all the time. Some changes are big, some more modest. Your toothpaste, your address, your insurance company, your hairstyle, your last name, your favorite tv show, your surprising job assignment, your child’s least favorite school subject, your newest passion, your latest disappointment. The list goes on and on because life goes on and on.

Dear Friends at New Covenant, Sometimes a song says it all, sometimes not. I was recently listening to Dionne Warwick sing the 1966 hit, “What’s it all about Alfie?”

Be careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise... Ephesians 5:15 Earlier, in the verses from Sunday’s epistle, St. Paul gives us some advice on how to live: “… put off falsehood and speak truthfully … Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice … Be kind and compassionate, forgiving each other…Be imitators of God, … and live a life of love …” Does it matter? Does it really make a difference how we live? And if so, to what does it matter? I mean, what’s at stake? And what about when we miss the mark? What then?

Should that title have a question mark after it, or will you allow me to assume that sometimes God will intentionally allow us to fail in order for us to realize our dependence on Him, to show us we are creatures and He is creator? This week, several of the glass balls that I try to keep spinning have dropped to the floor.