When it comes to dancing with change | Greg Asimakoupoulos
Published 2:00 pm Monday, July 28, 2025
With this column I begin my 21st year writing columns relating to faith and family life for the Mercer Island Reporter. My mug shot has changed a few times in 20 years, but there has been much about our community that has changed even more.
For example, when we moved here in the summer of 2005, all Islanders had free access on Island Crest to westbound I-90, not just those who qualify for HOV lanes. Our annual Summer Celebration lasted an entire weekend. It was not just a single day event. Our community was known for the Rotary Half Marathon that raised funds to research colon cancer. But COVID brought that race to an undesired finish line.
When we arrived on Mercer Island, there was an old motel in our new community. Traveling businessmen and families visiting from out of town had a spot to land. But the Travel Lodge is no longer.
But not all change is negative. A few months after we moved to our foot-shaped island the beautiful Mercer island Community and Events Center opened its doors. Since living here we’ve seen a new elementary school built plus a plethora of mixed-use buildings have gone up. New bakeries and eateries have opened up nourishing us without our having to cross a bridge for a special meal out. A light rail station has been constructed with the promise that Sound Transit trains will be operational in the near future.
For good or for bad, change happens! You can count on it. Change is an inevitable reality in life. The concept that “change is the only constant” is attributed to a Greek philosopher by the name of Heraclitus. My ancient relative lived in Ephesus five hundred years before Saint Paul wrote his famous letter to the young Christian congregation meeting there. Heraclitus wrote, “Everything changes and nothing remains still.” In other words, change is central to the universe.
Don’t believe him? Just look in the bathroom mirror. Such is the nature of the aging process. Our bodies change. Our hair changes color (or disappears). Our skin wrinkles. We lose our strength and flexibility. And it isn’t just us. Our children grow up and often move away. Our parents leave us through the doorway of death. So do friends.
As we waltz through life, we are required to adjust to the evolving music and rhythms and respond accordingly. To find contentment in our ever-changing existence, we would do well to embrace change and learn to dance with what we cannot control.
As one who believes in a Divine Choreographer, I am learning that dancing with change is not something I need to fear. The One whom I worship and from whom I take cues defies Heraclitus’ axiom. This One is the same yesterday, today and forever.
When Moses encountered the Almighty at the burning bush, he was commanded to take off his sandals. After all, the voice instructing him informed him that he was standing on holy ground. The phenomenon of a flaming bush that caught fire spontaneously definitely got Moses’ attention. When the leaves and branches continued to burn without being consumed, Israel’s future leader was intrigued all the more.
Moses inquired God’s name. The response he got was a name that was not your typical name. I AM WHO I AM , which can be translated Yahweh (or Jehovah), conveys a dynamic relevance.
Ours is a God who is all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present. While the world around us is subject to change and decay, the One who created it remains constant. When we consistently look to our never-changing God as the source of our identity, we are anchored and secure. Though circumstances shift and people move, God will never vacate His role as Choreographer-in-Chief. And when it comes to dancing with change, we just need to relax and let Him lead.
Guest columnist Greg Asimakoupoulos is a former chaplain at Covenant Living at the Shores in Mercer Island.
