Nothing Stays the Same

I was rather dramatically reminded of this when I recently visited the town of my birth.

Of the shops and businesses that I remember there were only about 4 in the same place as they were before. Most were gone, and others had moved. Road layouts had changed. The house where I lived for 12 years was nearly unrecognisable! All the large bushes and trees from the front were gone. The house had been painted a rather bright yellow, instead of the white or cream I remembered. The cyprus trees in the farm block nest door had all been removed, and where we once had a view of the hills to the front, there was a line of trees - none of which were there when we moved out 13 years ago.

Even the Baptist church we attended had changed. The big holly tree out the front was gone - not even the stup remained. It too, had been painted.

The only things that were the same was the public library, the train station, and a friend's house (although even their garden was a little different - tidier).

I think if I had been there, living through the changes it would not have been as much of a shock. But I saw all the changes in less than an hour. I knew it would have changed, but I didn't expect things to have changed as much as they had.

Whatever happened to the simple country life where things go relatively unchanged for generations?

It makes me think of a line in the hymn 'Abide With Me' by Henry F Lyte, which says "Change and decay in all around I see;O Thou who changest not, abide with me."