God Is Change: Trust, Impermanence, and Learning to Stay Present

What if trusting life doesn’t mean trusting that everything will become stable, coherent, or reassuring? In this episode, Vanessa explores change as both a spiritual and psychological problem: why we confuse trust with continuity, why change can feel like abandonment, and what it means to stay in relationship with reality as it keeps moving. Through Octavia Butler’s “God is Change,” Heraclitus, Buddhist impermanence, process theology, attachment theory, meaning-making research, and Jungian transformation, we look at the grief and freedom of releasing the fantasy that life’s job is to preserve the forms we love. Trust is not certainty that everything will work out; it is the willingness to remain present with what is real as it changes form.For educational purposes only. This isn’t therapy.Join the ICA Summit → https://www.vanessabennett.com/ica-summitReference Links:Octavia Butler — Parable of the Sower / EarthseedUse for: “God is Change,” Earthseed, and the idea that change is the central theological principle in Parable of the Sower.Link: https://www.octaviabutler.com/the-booksNote: Use this as the primary author/book reference for Octavia Butler and Parable of the Sower.Earthseed / “God Is Change”Use for: Earthseed’s core principle that God is Change and the related idea that God can be shaped.Link: https://godischange.org/shape-god/Note: Useful accessible reference for the Earthseed language. If quoting directly, confirm wording against the text of Parable of the Sower.Heraclitus — Flux / River FragmentUse for: Heraclitus’s idea that reality is in flux, often summarized through the river fragment.Link: https://iep.utm.edu/heraclit/Note: The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a reliable philosophy reference for Heraclitus and the doctrine of flux.Attachment Theory OverviewUse for: Secure attachment as a reliable base for exploration, regulation, and return.Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4085672/Note: Broad overview of attachment theory, including Bowlby and Ainsworth.Intolerance of UncertaintyUse for: Uncertainty as a transdiagnostic process associated with anxiety, worry, rigidity, avoidance, and distress.Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4204511/Note: Useful research review on intolerance of uncertainty and its role across anxiety and related conditions.Crystal Park — Meaning-Making After Stressful EventsUse for: Stressful events disrupting global beliefs/goals and the process of meaning-making after rupture.Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20192563/Note: Crystal L. Park’s 2010 review on meaning-making and adjustment to stressful life events.Buddhist Impermanence / AniccaUse for: Impermanence as one of the three marks of existence in Buddhist philosophy.Link: https://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh186_Nyanaponika-etal_Three-Basic-Facts-of-Existence--I-Anicca.htmlNote: Buddhist Publication Society resource on anicca / impermanence.Three Marks of ExistenceUse for: Impermanence, suffering/unsatisfactoriness, and non-self as core Buddhist teachings.Link: https://www.britannica.com/topic/aniccaNote: Accessible reference for anicca as impermanence in Buddhist thought.Alfred North Whitehead — Process Theology / “Fellow-Sufferer Who Understands”Use for: Process theology and God as relationally present within the becoming of the world.Link: https://processandfaith.org/becoming-christ-like-heathens/Note: This page quotes Whitehead’s famous phrase from Process and Reality: “God is the great companion—the fellow-sufferer who understands.”Process Theology OverviewUse for: General overview of process theology and Whitehead’s influence.Link: https://iep.utm.edu/processp/Note: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy overview of process philosophy/theology.C. G. Jung — Symbols of TransformationUse for: Jungian transformation, symbolic death, dissolution, renewal, and the psychological meaning of transformation symbols.Link: https://iaap.org/resources/academic-resources/collected-works-abstracts/volume-5-symbols-transformation/Note: IAAP summary of Jung’s Collected Works, Volume 5: Symbols of Transformation.James Hollis — The Provisional Life / The Middle PassageUse for: The “provisional life,” the placeholder self, and midlife/disruptive transitions exposing lives built around adaptation rather than truth.Link: https://jameshollis.net/project/the-middle-passage/Note: Use as a general reference for Hollis’s work on midlife passage and the provisional life. If using the exact phrase “provisional life,” confirm against the relevant Hollis text or audio.Spiritual Bypassing — John WelwoodUse for: Spiritual bypassing as using spiritual ideas/practices to avoid unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, or developmental tasks.Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-seekers-forum/202303/what-is-spiritual-bypassingNote: John Welwood coined the term spiritual bypassing; use this for accessible definition and background.Earthseed / “Shape God”Use for: Butler’s idea that change can be consciously shaped rather than merely endured.Link: https://godischange.org/shape-god/Note: Include if show notes mention “Shape God” or conscious participation with change. Confirm any direct quote against Butler’s novel.Octavia Butler / Parable of the Sower — Publisher PageUse for: Basic book reference for Parable of the Sower.Link: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower/9781538732182/Note: Publisher page for the book; good clean link for listeners.If you want to go deeper, check out the written companion on Substack and explore community + training at https://www.vanessaBennett.com.Additional ResourcesExplore: VanessaBennett.comBook: The Motherhood MythCommunity: Inner Compass CollectiveTraining: Inner Compass AcademyConnect with Inner CompassFollow on InstagramConnect with Vanessa Bennett:Follow on InstagramFollow on TikTokLearn more on SubstackConnect with Vanessa Bennett on LinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.