New Year is a time for new resolutions, fresh commitments, and a renewed sense of purpose. Unless one reflects the opportunities of the future will merely be repeats of the past. As I look around the small circle of homes where we live I find myself seeing the future through very different eyes.
What would it be like to be nineteen with everything and anything open to you in the future? What would I do with what I know now? Is there anything that I could do differently? I look through his and her eyes and I see extraordinary opportunities. I wonder what’s next.
What would it be like to be six, full of energy and anticipation of what’s to come. Will it snow soon? Will my brother be any better tomorrow than today? Will I get a chance to play with my Christmas toys today? What if…the thoughts spin into possibility after possibility?
What would it be like to be fourteen with all the fears of the future? Is there anything that I can do right? If there is, will others acknowledge my efforts or am I going to be permanently in this loop of criticism? Do any of my friends have an answer?
What if I am an adult? What could be different? It is almost too easy to forget that I am of age, responsible for what happens in my life. It is my decisions, my choices that determine the future. Hasn’t this always been true regardless of my age?
There is little that I can give to anyone that will guarantee an easy life. There is something that I can share that will open up new opportunities. It is the same advise that I am grasping with both hands.
“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” (Jude 1.20, 21)
