What an interesting time of year. New Year’s and the Christmas season have come and gone. St. Valentine’s Day is weeks away. The gray winter trudges on. But we know spring is on its way. Really! We know that the seasons continue to change; it is familiar and expected. Don’t we often wish all change could be familiar and expected, and even welcomed?!

We all know “nothing stays the same” and that life is full of changes. Some are welcomed with great excitement, especially if it is a change that we want or initiate. Others can be extremely challenging or even devastating especially when they are thrust upon us and turn our world upside down. Whether a change in our life is received as positive or negative, we often want to be in control or regain control as quickly as possible. Change unsettles us and usually is uncomfortable.

Comparing my life to a roller coaster ride seems appropriate, especially in recent years. Waiting for what seems like forever for “my turn”… Slowly trudging uphill with anticipation of great thrills or maybe it is great trepidation and dread wondering how I got on this crazy ride… The steep plunge down a huge hill, breakneck speeds, twists and turns so fast everything blurs… Sometimes holding on for dear life praying that my seat belt will hold me. Sometimes a terrified scream needs to be emitted. But there are other times when I let go completely, throw my hands high in the air laughing with delight and trusting that the roller coaster will follow its route and I just enjoy the ride.

So much of the turmoil and uncertainty in our communities and schools, nation and world, parishes and our Church seem to be a fight against change, a wild roller coaster ride whose course everyone is trying to fix. But what if the turmoil, uncertainty and change are needed to root out what needs to be changed and allow for a new and better way forward?

God wants us to let go and trust God. Throw our hands in the air and trust. Sometimes we will be terrified and just want off the ride while other times will be so positively wonderful that we will want to stay on the ride forever. Either way, God’s got it. God is in control; always has been and always will be. God has been in charge since before the very beginning of our universe and will continue to be long after its end. It is not ours to tell God what to do. It is ours to let go and let God. And trust, trust, trust that God knows best and that God’s will, will be done, in God’s time.

In this first month of 2023 a strange feeling has started to creep into my being. I am starting to let go of the fear and frustration, the annoyance and confusion of all the turmoil, dishonesty and disharmony around me, our nation and our world. God’s got it. God knows what to do. My trust and my faith are growing. And I am letting go more often to throw my hands in the air on this roller coaster of my life, absolutely and wholly giddy and delighted that God is in charge. I am enjoying the ride. Wheee!

-Adele DiNatale-Svetnicka