Change has always been an inherent part of the human world. Written history and archaeology bear witness to the inevitable displacement of political regimes and ways of life, whether gradually or quickly; on larger timescales, science shows us that plant and animal life have been undergoing a constant process of evolution, and that even the geologic and atmospheric nature of the planet itself has changed. But the word “change” seems to have special relevance today because of the speed and intensity of the transformations that have occurred in our world. Whether we locate the causes of the present disorientation in the information technology revolution of the second half of the 20th century, or look farther back to the ideological conflicts and globalizing processes that took place in the 20th century, or look even further back to the process of industrialization and economic development that started with the Industrial Revolution, the years leading up to the present time have seen a constant change in technological capacity, an unsettling of traditional and relatively long lasting modes of life, and political and social disagreement about how to respond, or even if anything can or should be done.
There are those who cheer on this change—some are optimistic about the promises of technology to deliver higher standards of living as well as the promises of attendant economic, social, and cultural changes to bring new levels of justice, happiness, and fulfillment to a greater number of people. Others are less enthused, pointing at the disorientation that comes from a lack of stability, the loss of social and economic benefits from the old order, and harm to the environment that the changes have produced. But regardless of any human judgment, the changes keep occurring, and they are beyond the ability of any human or institution, no matter how powerful, to fully control.
From the spiritual perspective, change should not be surprising. The nature of God manifesting in the universe is change: God is constantly bringing new potentialities out of himself to serve their purpose in the manifestation, and when their purpose has been served, they are destroyed. Any potentiality, once manifested, comes into contact with competing potentialities, and there ensues an inevitable struggle for survival. This is true of individual entities, biological species, but also of larger entities like institutions, companies, countries, technologies, social forms, and ideologies.
Why should all this change be necessary to God? Aren’t some things good enough as they are? One thing to notice is that change is a necessary consequence of the manifestation progressing towards perfection. I ask the reader to engage in a thought experiment: consider a case where you felt that change happened too rapidly and that something disappeared or altered where you feel that it shouldn’t have. This could be feeling that cassettes were too rapidly displaced by the CD player, or lamenting the end of a favored political movement. Now notice that this preferred older state that you are upset about losing was not the final Divine perfection. Therefore, if the final Divine perfection is to be reached, *something* would need to change from that state. You may argue that something else in the state of affairs should have been altered—in the earlier examples, perhaps it needn’t have been the cassettes or the favored political movement that was destroyed. But because of the complexity of the manifestation, it is generally not possible to pick and choose and preserve only one’s favorite items: as one thing is put into its place, other things may be disrupted. Even if there is a partial good that is brought about at an earlier stage, that partial good may need to be displaced so that something even greater can come about.
This is not a defense of arbitrary change or any change in particular. It may well be that the appropriate response to a particular change is to fight it, even if the fight is a losing cause. But we must recognize that anything short of the absolute Divine perfection is mutable. And this means constantly accepting the changes that come about rather than lamenting and wishing for an bygone state. Even those who seek to restore an older order need to accept the changes that have come, and even accept that some things are beyond reversion. For example, even the most committed traditionalist can’t wish away modern science and technology; even those who would reject modern technology completely must learn how to interact to some extent with an outside world that is saturated with its results.
For the spiritual seeker, the ultimate solution is to stay grounded in the Divine, which is simultaneously that which is most stable as well as the source of all change. The Divine is transcendent of the universe and everything that changes in it; by coming in contact with him, relying on his guidance, and taking refuge in his peace, we will be able to navigate any confusing waters and our spirits will remain safe and free. At the same time, the Divine is also the cause of the of all changes. This means that we must trust in the new potentialities that come forward, knowing that all the possible good that is yet to come about is contained in them, and trusting that even those changes which appear harmful have some purpose, even if only to ask us to exercise our courage, strength, and faith by fighting against them. The Divine himself is the source of stability from which we must observe and engage with the shifting waves of possibility he unleashes.
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