As we enter the new year
The New Year is a time to pause, look back, look inside of self, look ahead. It is a time to think seriously about life's ultimate issues: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? It is a very good time to consider the relevance of the Christian faith to our world and to our lives.
Over the years I have hoarded in my files and notebooks a number of things that have seemed significant to a consideration of a New Year. As we approach a new year, perhaps it is time to think about life and it's meaning. Robert Browning spoke about the close of one year and the beginning of another:
The Year is closed, the record made
The last deed done, the last word said.
The memory alone remains
Of all its joys, its grief, its gains.
And now with purpose full and clear,
We turn to meet another year.
Inevitably, at the New Year, we take a look back. For some people it is a real problem because they are always looking back - they back into the future - lacking the courage to face it. But wise people look back and learn from it. Oliver Wendell Holmes said: "When I want to understand what is happening today or try to decide what will happen tomorrow, I look back." The "now" generation needs to learn to appreciate the past. You cannot even drive a car safely without a rear-view mirror. We can learn much from the things we did that we regret and from the things we left undone. Sometimes we need to think about not only what we have done or left undone, but about what we have become. Someone said that after forty each person deserves the face they have. Looking back is not all bad.
In some sense I guess all of us think about the future. Some think it is all fixed - predetermined. That doesn't make much sense for people who exercise, go to the Doctor, brush their teeth, don't smoke, etc. etc. The future is always hopeful, because we can help to make it. Zechariah said we are "prisoners of hope" (9: 12). There are always the prophets of doom, but I like the statement I found in Martin Marty's Context:
"None of us know enough about the future to be absolutely pessimistic." With our God the future is always hopeful. That keeps us going. But there is an old Chinese proverb which reminds us:
"If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are going." Some of us need to hear that.
The big thing about facing the future is to keep going - don't lose heart - don't give up - don't turn back. James J. Corbett was a champion prize-fighter of another era. In writing on the subject of keeping going he said: "When your feet are so tired that you can hardly shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your guard, fight one more round. When you wish your opponent would put you to sleep, fight one more round. The person who fights one more round is never whipped. "
As we enter the New Year a right attitude is very important. If we could only learn to care and be kind, it would make a big difference. Bennet Cerf relates this touching little story about a bus that was bumping along a back road in the South:
"In one seat a wispy old man sat holding a bunch of fresh flowers. Across the aisle was a young girl whose eyes came back again and again to the man's flowers. The time came for the old man to get off. Impulsively he thrust the flowers into the girl's lap. 'I can see you love the flowers,' he explained, 'and I think my wife would like for you to have them. I'll tell her I gave them to you.' The girl accepted the flowers, then watched the old man get off the bus and walk through the gate of a small cemetery." Learn to be kind.
Maybe some of these thoughts are worth considering as we turn to face another year.
Pastor Paul Leavens