Christmas 2020 is now just a memory and the door has closed on the year that was. The New Year of 2021 has arrived and with it all the hopes that it will bless us in the ways we most need. At this time of year, and particularly on New Year’s Eve, I am filled with nostalgia. I have experienced this feeling since childhood; while everyone else is reveling, I have this funny feeling, and it is a strange feeling. I think it is because I know what has happened in the past but what lies ahead is unknown. I feel this despite my very deep and personal Christian faith; I know that God is always in control and that His unchanging nature and promises provide the grace and resilience to live life forward, since that is the only way life can be lived.
For as the river does not backward flow, forward must life daily go.
Still, I recall New Year’s Days when there was not an inkling that loved ones would receive cancer diagnoses and be passed from this life in a few short months, that marriages and families would be smashed and unable to recover, that loved ones would be killed in accidents, that homes would burn down or just a year ago, that a virus would turn our lives upside down and globally exact an enormous toll on physical, financial, social and emotional well being.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and with the wisdom of hindsight life can begin to make some sense, although for much of life we may never understand why it had to be so. However we must accept that it is and with that acceptance move forward in grace and hope.
So I share some of my thoughts for the New Year and hope that they may speak to you too.
#Make the most of each day. All our days are a gift of God’s grace.
#Look for the beautiful and the good.
#Be kind and gracious to yourself and others.
#Build emotional, physical and spiritual resilience.
#Count your blessings.
#Live in Faith and Hope, even when everything you see might tell another story.
#Choose to be happy.
2021. May you have the grace and courage to live it well. Happy New Year.
Way leads onto Way 