Sunday Morning Serenity

I love a little cold weather at Christmastime, but the minute I've opened my last present and we've sacked up all the wrecked wrapping paper and crushed boxes, I'm ready for spring. I guess I'm eager for renewal. When I was young, New Year's Eve used to depress the daylights out of me because I would watch Dick Clark and company celebrating in Times Square and think, "I can't believe another endless year has gone by and I'm still not__________." How I filled in the blank varied from year to year, depending on where I was in life. It could be anything from "dating Donny Osmond" to "sure about my major" to "on my way to New York to get famous." Now, New Year's comes around and I think, "How on earth did 12 whole months fly by so fast?"

New Year's is a strange time because our hopes for what lies ahead are mingling with whatever we feel about the year we just came through. Maybe we were thrilled with how it turned out. Maybe we were sadly disappointed. Most likely, there were moments of both. We're still sorting through all of that when the clock strikes midnight and BOOM! A new year, a clean slate, and a world of possibilities. Also a big question mark. How will this one turn out?

I think New Year's might be the moment when all of our humanness bubbles to the surface—our hopes for the future, our fear of the unknown, our desire to be renewed and to be somehow better than we were before. Every plea for forgiveness and healing in the Bible is, in a sense, a plea for renewal. The Apostle John sees the ultimate vision of it in Revelation:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and there was no longer any sea.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Now the dwelling of God is with men,
and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself
will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death
or mourning or crying or pain,
for the old order of things has passed away."
Revelation 21:1-4

 Lifting up a prayer for renewed hope, health, and joy for you this New Year.

Comments

[Candy Hicks]

That is beautiful Val, thanks for sharing,hope 2014 is allllll you need, hope and wish for !! Love you
:)

[Valerie]

Thanks so much! Happy New Year! Love you:)