Day 2 -- Change

Day 2 -- Well, it is officially a new calendar year and this brings with it change -- change in the year number when we sign something or write a cheque and perhaps change in the way life unfolds based on all the well wishes for peace, prosperity, health, happiness and much more. For me (and many others), the New Year means the start of a new academic term and this year I am teaching two courses that are new to me -- so much change involved with preparations for classes next week. Others may choose to change habits of daily living through resolutions and still others will renew their commitment to live that healthy lifestyle. Interestingly, the barometer is changing today, too -- yet more snow on the way for tomorrow. <smile> So my three days of leisure may be over with the return to shovelling.

When thinking through this theme, it seems clear that change is what life is all about. This isn't so much ONE change as it is another aspect of the continuing change, since as Stephen Baetz noted in his book "Change Is." -- written with a period not the usual ellipsis. Change is constant -- the natural state of things. Sometimes it is called adaptation or growth. Under any definition, we may be able to understand this, but understanding doesn't necessarily make change easy to embrace.

The selection today, though, is easy to embrace <smile>. The song has its roots in political ideology as Sam Cooke wrote it during the early days of the civil rights movement in the US. I find the lyrics can mean many things that deal with change in our lives and so I present it as today's musical selection. I've chosen the original 1963 Sam Cooke recording, though there have been many covers recorded including the more recent version by Seal used in the Obama presidential campaign. Enjoy!

Sam Cooke -- A Change is Gonna Come