The Turtle Way

 

The image of Jesus changing water into wine isn’t only a fun party trick.  I think one of the reasons this story tells of Jesus’ first act of public ministry in the gospel of John is that following Jesus changes us.  Here we are, almost a month and a half into 2026.  I don’t know if you have New Year's Resolutions?   According to Forbes, while 80 percent of people are confident in their ability to meet their goals for the New Year, many people drop their resolutions by January 17.   The average length of time for keeping a resolution is 3.74 months.  We know that change is difficult and involves grief.  Sometimes we want to move quickly, sprinkle some kind of Miracle-Gro on our lives so that we see transformation in the blink of an eye.  But as the great story of the tortoise and hare teaches us, slow and steady wins the race.  Your own life taught you this.  You started by being unable to hold up your own head as an invitation.  Then, you mastered turning over on your tummy, eventually you began to awkwardly crawl, then can stood with wobbly legs as a toddler who had numerous tumbles and falls.  I don’t know why humans believe that when we become adults, that process doesn’t apply to our health, our thoughts, and our faith.  Change is difficult, demanding, and the defense attorney in your head might tell you, “Why bother?”  Often, we want to change not just ourselves but others.  I’ve shared before my favorite quote from Edwin Friedman, “The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change. Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation, but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choicest words lose their power when they are used to overpower.” 

 

How does the above quote land in your life right now?  Friedman, while correct, frustrates me.  I want to change others.  I want my words to so “enlighten” them that they are forever grateful for my tutelage.  The truth is, Friedman might not only be talking about those people, but we people, and specifically you and me.  Sometimes I am unmotivated to change.  I like my opinions, routine, and way of being.  Why should I change? 

 

The spiritual question is, what is Christ trying to change in me right now?  As Christ fills the jar of my life today with living water, how is Christ also praying over my life for subtle, subversive transformation?  Am I listening, or am I like a vessel that has a lid so tight on top that even God couldn’t pry it off?  I pray today you will take a moment to look back over the first few weeks of this young year.  What is shifting, realizing it might be subtle or awkward or even more failure than success?  Where might God be calling you to toddle your way toward right now?  May these moments of meditation stir our lives to keep responding to the One who still changes the water of life now into the wine of God’s blessings. Amen.