Thoughts on the New Year...

Happy New Year everyone! It seems the older that I get the less I look forward to a year ending and another one beginning. But I think there was a definite purpose in the Good Lord giving us a yearly cycle. Cycles are a pattern of His Creation (God is of course the master artist). He uses cycles in everything: time, seasons, birth (life) and death, growth, etc. I find for myself that the start of a new cycle is always a huge time for reflection. This is the time where we usually make wild resolutions for the new year as we look back at all the things we should or shouldn't have done. So we (people) usually join a gym, try to give up a bad habit or two, decide to volunteer more in our community, change our diet, take up a new sport or hobby, do those repairs around the house we have been procrastinating about, finally decide to move into a career we love, go back to school, patch things up with friends or family we haven't seen (or decide to not to see certain toxic ones anymore), etc.

I think if you are like me you will find yourself to be a creature of habit. Although we all enjoy variety and the newness of change, challenge and excitement in our lives, for the most part we find what we enjoy and kind of stick with it. This can be as simple as the food we like to eat or as complex as our worldview and the various social relationships we find ourselves involved with. I find that I often need to "recenter" myself. This is probably done by both men and women in different ways, but the way I do it is more typical of what us guys do. We get alone. We retreat. Some folks call it to our man-caves, but it can really be anywhere. For some it's the mountains, a particular spot on the beach, a river or lake, their garage, a trip to the desert, maybe even a gravesite of a loved one. I have probably a handful of places that are important to me like that. This is where I can get alone and talk to God. Really look deep into myself, pour my heart out to Him and wrestle with my demons (which we all have). This drives women crazy because they want us to talk about things to give them a feeling of comfort, but this time is not about them. It's about us. Recentering ourselves. And we need it.

I look back on my life, and I try to objectively look at the great things that God has done. The times He has been faithful, the times He has watched over me, protected me, provided for me, and guided me. I try to look back at SPECIFIC prayers that I prayed and I can always see many that were answered. I have seen many dreams fulfilled in my life. Challenges overcome, children healed, opportunities presented to me. It is looking back on God's past goodness to me that I find the confidence that He will bring me through any present challenges or unseen future ones as well. And no matter what bad has come, the good has always outweighed it.

We MUST do this. We as people tend to take God for granted (as we usually do with other things in our life as well). Oftentimes when we find that we have accomplished a goal it isn't as fulfilling as we thought (you get the job you always wanted and it has as many downsides as the job you hated before, you go out with the gorgeous woman that stops you in your tracks only to find out she has a horrible personality, your spouse doesn't fulfill all your needs, your kids grow up and leave, you buy the new car and now the payments drive you mad, etc. etc.) Why is this? Well you may have heard it said before, but NOTHING is perfect this side of eternity. And that longing in our hearts for perfection (Heaven) cannot be found in this world. So when our goals don't measure up we get frustrated and usually point that frustration to some extent at God. The children of Israel did this frequently. They were always forgetting the things God had done for them and usually had a "what have you done for me lately?" mentality. And usually when He stopped doing for them the reality check was pretty harsh.

Why does God have us repeat communion over and over again? It's because we forget. We need to be reminded. Its like reading scripture over again that we have read before. We need to not only enlighten ourselves with His wisdom, but also maintain it. And if we take it for granted that's usually when we fall.

I think that recentering ourselves will be ever so important for us all this year. 2009 will be a year of serious economic challenges for not only our country but throughout the world. Can we trust Him with our doubts and fears?

Some things to ponder...

Do you have a roof over your head? A bed to sleep on?

Is your neighborhood relatively safe?

Do you have food in your home? If not do you have access to buy it convieniently if you need to from a grocery store?

Can you worship your God freely without the threat of harm coming to you from your government or neighbors?

Are your children given the opportunity and access for public education?

Does your community have hospitals and health clinics with sterile instruments and modern equipment with competent doctors?

Are you able to work for an employer with reasonable employee rights under proper working conditions for a fair wage?

These are just some things to think about, but the truth is that most of us are so blessed to not be living in conditions that exist in certain parts of the world. So I welcome 2009 in with you. May the Lord bless us all and keep us all under His wing. Let us be thankful for all that He has done. And let us prayerfully ask for help where needed.

That should help last me a little while until I need to remind myself again. :)