"Who Moved My Cheese?"

In the world of Sniff and Scurry and Hem and Hall, change happens. These four mice must adapt in order to survive; their cheese disappears and without it, they will die. And so the parable begins with this metaphor for adapting to change. The basic premise of this clever book by Dr. Spencer Johnson, first published in 1998, is:

1. Change Happens.

2. Anticipate Change.

3. Monitor Change.

4. Adapt to Change quickly.

5. Change.

6. Enjoy change.

Here we are 23 years since the book was published feeling the same way the mice felt: WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? In November 2021, 20 months after the COVID pandemic arrived, how many of you are asking this question?

The other day, I went to the fruit and vegetable man over by the library across from the Dairy Queen here in my little town. Mr. Dave who has run it for decades always hand picked the tomatoes he sold and was very proud of them. He even had a sign in the window that said something like I have handpicked the vegetables so I know they are good. Do not try to return them! He offered soft ("cooking") tomatoes in a separate bag at a lower price. Yes, he was a curmudgeon, but he was our "fruit and vegetable man," known countywide for great produce. After being away for more than a year, I was excited to get back to his veggies, but when I pulled up to the market, he was gone. His sign was gone, his extra baskets and pallets were gone, tables gone, everything gone. All that was left was the empty building. I felt a pit in my stomach.

Then yesterday, I needed to go get some cash and scooted over to the corner bank where we have always gone to get cash out of the ATM, and it was gone. No ATM, no lights, no sign of life. I felt that pit in my stomach again and the first thing that came to mind..."who moved my cheese!"

What has changed in your world in the last 20 months? What do you need to adapt to? to enjoy? And most of all, how can this great change we have faced prepare us for the inevitable change that lies ahead...help us to anticipate, monitor and ultimately change?

We would be remiss ,however, if we didn't pay attention to what doesn't change, what is our constant, our omnipresent: The Love of God. Where do you see that Love which prevails "as long as the sun and the moon endure?"

But I sure will miss Mr. Dave, "the fruit and vegetable man."