Dear reader,
It has come--that day we all dread, yet hope for. The one which marks the end of what was, and the beginning of what will be; the day that draws the line in the sand, over which we must step if we will continue this journey called life--the first day of the new year.
Oh, it's inevitable enough, and really, in all honesty, not so special as it seems. Why, the sun rises and sets 365 times every year, and one more day can't be that important, can it?
Each day is only as important as we make it.
January 1 gets a lot of attention (importance, some would deem), by virtue of our reckoning of time. For how many thousands of years have cultures marked one specific day as a day of new beginnings? And why? Just as one cannot find a starting or ending place on a perfect sphere, so our days, in the endless cycle of seasons, really could start or end at any point.
But we, in our human finite-ness, have a need for newness, for second (or third, or fourth) chances, for fresh starts. And so we cling to this "new day" with an imbalance of hope, of longing, of desire for something better. (Who ever writes a New Year's resolution that will decrease their quality of life?!)
We look for new beginnings, because we need them.
Today, we began again. A new year. In the words of hymn writer Brian Wren,
Is this a day of new beginnings,
Time to remember and move on;
Time to believe what love is bringing,
Laying to rest the pain that's gone?
How can the seasons of a planet
Mindlessly spinning round its sun
With just a human name and number
Say that some new thing has begun?
Yet through the life and death of Jesus
Love's mighty Spirit, now as then,
Can make for us a world of difference
As faith and hope are born again.
Then let us, with the Spirit's daring,
Step from the past and leave behind
Its disappointment, guilt and grieving,
Seeking new paths and sure to find.
Christ is alive, and goes before us
To show and share what love can do.
This is a day of new beginnings;
Our God is making all things new.
You know, better than anyone on this earth, what you want made new. But God, greater than our understanding, and more intimately acquainted with ourselves than we can know, offers to make new what really matters. All the issues we discuss via this forum, all the concerns of your home and hearth, all the issues in your personal life, your family field, your work and community, will be best served if we first allow our God to start today, this week, this month and year, to make us new.
Happy New Year!
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