Happy New Year

My father is in the other room going through his emails.  He's opened one wishing him a Happy New Year.  As he reads it, I hear a song playing that speaks of the coming new year and the opportunity for fresh starts and the importance of pressing forward.  The tune has a decidedly optimistic lilt to it. 

Whether you're young or old, the prospect of a new year brings with it the promise of new beginnings and fresh starts.  New Years resolutions abound, and though they are often met with failure, the impulse do begin anew is a good thing.  New Years reminds us that we need to be better people - we need to exercise more, lose weight, stop smoking, be kinder, etc.

This is the time of the year when newsmen remind us of all of the tragedy from the previous year.  This is also the time of year to review our own lives and the disappointments, difficulties - and sometimes tragedies we encountered.  The end of the year feels heavy with the weight of all that was difficult.  We long for better times.

It's too bad that the secular calendar and the church year do not end at the same time.  Christians end their year right before Advent with Christ the King Sunday.  The year is capped off with a reminder that, no matter how things look right now, Christ is on the throne, and is guiding history to an end point.  When that end comes, everything will be set right. 

For those who know Christ, even now, all things are being set right, whether we can perceive it or not.  In Romans 8 Paul reminds us that all things work together for good for those who love God, and that nothing can separate us from His love.  Now that's the way to begin a year - or a day - or a moment, knowing that whatever we encounter God will use for our good. In fact, He delights in turning things upside down - making lemonade out of our lemons. 

So, Happy New Year!  May God bless us all with a sense of His presence and purpose in 2014.