Glacier Bay National Park: Change

A feature of many national parks is an open geological record marking the passage of time. Most of our parks
are places where change happens very slowly. Not so with Alaska’s Glacier Bay. Here, change is the main
attraction, and it happens quickly. Less than 250 years ago, there was no Glacier Bay, the entire park was
covered in ice hundreds of feet thick. As glaciers advanced, they cut deep channels in rock and dragged stones with them, and now as they recede, they melt into the ocean and leave a barren moonscape littered with stony debris. Equally amazing is how swiftly life comes to the ground exposed by the shrinking glacier. Within a year, mosses and lichens grab hold of the rocks and within decades, grasses and wildflowers appear. Change is a constant in life. Sometimes it’s gradual and sometimes its sudden, but it always happens. It is best to prepare for change and to manage it as best we can. How does our faith help us manage the impact of change? How does it call us to be agents of change?