Seasons
New Year
For when you feel: new year, january 1, resolutions, fresh start
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus.
The MinuteHomily
A new calendar hangs on the wall with nothing written in it yet, and last year is still loud in your head. Paul wrote his new-year verse from a prison cell, of all places, and it moves in two directions at once. "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." Forgetting does not mean amnesia, since Paul remembered his past well enough to write about it. It means refusing to let last year drive, neither its failures, which are forgiven, nor its successes, which are yesterday's manna. Then comes the reach, not toward a thinner or richer you, but "toward the mark," knowing Christ more this December than last. Make your resolutions; habits are good servants. But set them inside the one resolution that outranks them all, and press on.
By the MinuteHomily editors
A prayer for this moment
Lord of new beginnings, I leave last year in Your hands: the failures forgiven, the wins on the altar. This year, the prize is knowing You. Amen.
“Trust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love, the future to God's providence.”
after St. Augustine
Hymns for this moment
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” · Thomas Chisholm
“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” · Robert Robinson
One small step
Write one spiritual resolution above the practical ones, and tell someone who'll ask you about it in June.
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