The Unchanging Christ

Like the years before it, 2009 has been a year of important change. For example, there were changes to the board games Clue and Monopoly, plus changes to M&M’s. Horrors! What’s next?!

Our entire life depends on it. People fear and work to avoid it. Our president was elected by promising it.

Bookstores are crammed with guides on how to create it personally and manage it professionally.

Sometimes it’s the only constant in life, and other times people desperately want it but can’t seem to muster it.

Change.

The longer we live, the more of it we see. Consider a few childhood classics that have left nostalgia behind while looking to change with the times.

The board game Monopoly was built on obscure geographic locales from Atlantic City. Without Monopoly, nobody outside of Jersey would know Marvin Gardens and Oriental Avenue. But because 750 million people around the world have played the game, Parker Brothers has now released a globalized World Edition. City streets have been replaced by actual cities, which were determined by Web site voters.

Boardwalk is replaced by Montreal, Illinois Avenue by London, and Water Works and Electric Co. by Solar and Wind Farms. Instead of...