The New Year brings many changes. This year brought a new prescription change due to a new Medicare Part D plan. This change means a new set of prescriptions from all of our doctors. There is a new formulary for what is and is not covered, and at what level each is covered. Our family will probably be better off for all the changes, but it still feels annoying to have to analyze and implement all these changes. For all my talk of staying open to change, I still find myself resistant when I have to make the changes. This is not simply a factor of old age as anyone who has made changes in a young child’s routine has learned. We may long for change at times, and conversely rebel at having to make change. We enjoy the stability of things staying the same and may even fear what change may bring. I think that fear explains much of what is happening in our world. What we don’t like we want to see changed, and what we treasure we want to remain the same. Change engages the unknown. What if our deepest fears come to pass? We can’t even predict the weather, let alone the changes which the future might hold. No doubt the future will not be as bad as we fear or as good as we hope. Perhaps that is why Jesus spent so much time telling his disciples, “Don’t be afraid,” and “I am with you always to the end of the age.” Whatever the future holds, God’s people can be confident that God will always be with us.