Innovation

February 16, 2022

From Pastor Joe

“You get up every morning From your alarm clock's warning Take the 8:15 into the city There's a whistle up above And people pushin', people shovin' And the girls who try to look pretty.”

So sang Bachman Turner Overdrive in the early 70’s, bringing to light the feeling many people have about their daily existence. It seems like each day is just like the one before it, nothing changes, nothing is different-the sun rises, the sun also sets, ob la dee, ob la dah, life goes on. And we feel as if we are stuck in a rut, doing the same things over and over.

But perhaps that is not a bad thing. Perhaps life is made up of routines and there is nothing wrong with that. The sun rises, the sun also sets. If God in His appointed rounds, thought routines were so bad, He would not have had the earth turn so precisely, He would not have caused the tides to be on a schedule, the seasons to be so predictable. Just because there are routines, doesn’t mean it is all so bad. Routines create order out of potential chaos.

But perhaps we can be innovative and creative within our routine. To be innovative means to introduce something new or to do something in a new way. Innovation is a change in the thought process for doing something.

I like to think innovation comes about when I see the day in, day out routines that my life has, and yet I find new ways to look at things and approach things within the routines. Maybe the innovation is not so much a process outside of me, but a change within me-to see the phases and aspects of my life and to be more innovative with them.

Perhaps I can be innovative by finding new ways to love my wife, to learn to be kinder to all I meet, to find ways to trust God more, even through the darkness, to do my work in a better, more efficient way, to take my free time and use it more wisely. Life leaves spaces for you to create and be innovative.

Robert F. Kennedy once said, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not." That is the essence of innovation.

Even though God is a God of routine-the sun rises, the sun also sets, God is an innovative God. Each day is a gift, each day is a chance to do better, to step out on faith more and stretch myself, to create, to be innovative. If you want change, don’t look outside yourself, look within. Innovation happens in the midst of routine. It is not about others changing, it is about YOU. The sun rises, the sun also sets.