There is a
joke, a very old joke, which makes its appearance in many guises; in response
to the question ‘Could you give me directions to the nearest’ whatever place
someone is seeking, the ‘local resident’, after a pause for significant
thought, replies: “Well; if I was going there, I wouldn’t be starting from
here.”
The reality
is, we always start from where we are; and we are in the first month of a New
Year: how are the resolutions holding up?!
Perhaps within the New Year celebrations, whether wild or quiet, there
is a reminder of our mortality, our needs, our hopes and desires. In thinking about where we hope to be going
over the next months, we are reminded that we are here, in the now, in a time
and place in history.
The most
important decision we make, the most significant commitment we can undertake,
is to decide who or what will be our guiding principle in the days and weeks
ahead:
“And I said to the man who stood at the
gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the
unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into
the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better
than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.” (Minnie Louise Haskins)
As we
reflect at the start of another year, we look backwards, over the years, over
our lives, our memories, to the years of history, years which define and
explain us; we also look forward, seeking to discern where we might be
heading. But in reality, we are in the
now, and we must make our resolutions in the present – we start from here! And the most important resolution we can make
today, is in whom or what we trust as we step out into the New Year.
Happy New
Year!
Jamie
