Sam Cooke was Right........A Change Is Gonna Come

Today I helped with registration at Kellogg High School.

One of the students coming through the line made a comment that I can't seem to shake.

He said, "I don't like change."

Then I started thinking about this song, "A Change Is Gonna Come".  I heard it when James Taylor sang it on an episode of "The West Wing".

The song was written by Sam Cooke in 1964.  He wrote it about events that happened in his life, and it became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement.  Here is Cooke singing this song:

Change is inevitable.  And you need to figure out how you are going to respond to it.

My personal life is changing drastically this fall, with all three daughters in college.

My professional life is also changing.  I am now only at Kellogg High School.  And KHS has some changes.  The Kellogg School District as a whole has made some changes.

Change is good.  I don't mind things getting stirred up and mixed up a bit.  I can get in a rut very easily, so if things are changing, it keeps things interesting.

But sometimes we don't like the changes that are happening.  But we have to figure out how we are going to respond, and how our response will help us make it through the change.


"It's been a long time coming, But, I know a change is gonna come, Oh, yes it will....."

I've experienced a lot of changes in my life.  These were caused by jobs, babies, and moving from one town to another.

Reading a book can change me.

Watching a movie can change me.

Having a conversation can change me.

Praying to God and reading the Bible can change me.

Life is about change.  Nothing stays the same.  Our bodies are continually changing.  People around us are continually changing.  Some changes are more gradual than others, but things are still changing.

Technology has made things change at a very rapid rate.

How do you respond to change?  Do you grumble, complain, and let everyone know how miserable it makes you?  Or do you look at it as a new adventure to learn from?

We all have a choice.  I try to approach the changes in my life as a new adventure.

Now, often I do grumble and complain, but it only makes the change I am going through worse.

It is better to smile, take a deep breath and say, "Okay, Lord, what next?"