The New Year, like a new born child, is placed in our hands as the old year passes away. The days and weeks to come are God’s gift; they carry God’s blessing. As a blessing, we welcome them. Our hope for the year ending is that all that was good in it remain with us an all that was harmful be left behind.
Though even thinking on the subject of time may prove discomforting, it is not a bad idea—especially at the beginning of a New Year.
As we look ahead for 2024, we look at a block of time. We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds. And all is a gift from God. We have done nothing to deserve it, earn it, or purchase it. Like the air we breathe, time comes to us as a part of life.
The gift of time is not ours alone. It is given equally to each person. Rich and poor, educated and ignorant, strong and weak—every man, woman and child has the same twenty-four hours every day.
Another important thing about time is that you cannot stop it. There is no way to slow it down, turn it off, or adjust it. Time marches on.
And you cannot bring back time. Once it is gone, it is gone. Yesterday is lost forever. If yesterday is lost, tomorrow is uncertain. We may look ahead at a full year’s block of time, but we really have no guarantee that we will experience any of it.
I never did understand all the fuss about New Year’s Eve and New Year resolutions. Every single one of us is a different person just a day before. We are all survivors of yesterdays. Yet, at the same time, there are also things within us that are just so resistant to change. It’s our inner core and the facets of this inner core, both the good and the bad, are unlikely to change just because we make a New Year resolution to change it. It’s a new year, but it’s always the same past. The same old fears and the same old anxieties that will return to plague us once the euphoria of the new year wears away and we know that this year is just another year in a long list of ‘new years.’ We struggle to make it to the next ‘new year’ where we make noble promises only to break them again and again, repeatedly.
Maybe this desire for ‘new years’ is just a reflection of our desire to feel alive once again instead of trudging through life. Or perhaps it’s something even more basic. It’s the desire for hope that something will be different this time around, that this time around; our dreams can actually come true. Who amongst us have not secretly hoped for the silver lining or the ‘happily-ever-after’ in our hearts?
Yet, there is really no reason to place all our hopes in a New Year and resort to a sort of ‘magical thinking.’ How we live our days is how we live our lives. The true power that can change a person can only come from deep within the person. New Year is just a date on the calendar; a record keeping based on the rotation of the Earth about the Sun. The light within a person’s soul can be lit anew every moment, every instance. It doesn’t require any dates, any appointments or any advanced planning. It’s just a matter of having that spark of something intangible, unnamable; the ability to see the world fresh once again. To use experience as a guide rather than having experience be something that makes us lose wonder in our world. Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci and many other prominent figures all understood the raw beauty and wonder in living and in life. It’s not that they have special abilities that the rest of us do not possess. Rather, it is we who have lose the natural desire to marvel at the miracles in the world. We have become immune to miracles simply because it is all around us.
Older technology is scoffed at as newer ones replace them. A small raise angers many of us when we should be grateful for it. The spark of love is slowly smothered by the mundane married life when it should be blazing ever brighter. Then, when the New Year comes, we get along for a while to pretend that everything is going to be alright and immediately after, resume our old habits. The celebrations, loud cheering and ridiculous expenses are just an excuse to feel good for a moment… the candy sugar rush that leaves one feeling as tired as ever later on.
Obviously, time is one of our most precious possessions. We can waste it. We can worry over it. We can spend it on ourselves. Or, as good stewards, we can invest it in the kingdom of God.
The New Year is full of time. As the seconds tick away, will you be tossing time out the window, or will you make every minute count? This is a time for reflection as well as celebration. As you look back on the past year and all that has taken place in your life.
Remember each experience for the good that has come of it as well as for the knowledge you have gained. Remember the love you have shared and the happiness you have brought. Remember the laughter, the joy, the hard work, and the tears. And as you reflect on the past year, also be thinking of the new one that lies ahead. Because what matters most is that this is a time of new beginnings and the celebration of Life.
Happy New Year
Lisa
Tags: #NewYear#NewBeg Innings
