Now we lay 2011 to rest, a year to be thankful for.
They are all years to be thankful for, even when they are times that try our souls. Our lives are the testing grounds that reveal our mettle. Of course life changes us; life is the crucible that forges the metal of which we are formed. So even if it has been an uphill challenge, it is a path we have climbed successfully; it has been another year to thank God for. We climbed to the summit to plant the flag of 2011 at the topmost peak. Join me while I shout, “Wahoo! We made it!” A year of turmoil; a year of deliverance and grace, of salvation.
So now we can pause and note the passing of 2011. Life chips away at us, smoothes the edges. When I think of how the passing year changed me, the changes are real but ephemeral, as hard to pin down and hold on to as a note of music, or a beam of light. I hope this year has made me a little kinder, a little stronger, a little more patient, a little more of a better man. It is easier to imagine time as a flowing river, with each moment being a unique sip of the water of life. I cannot let the year fade into history without acknowledging my gratitude and wonder. God is the source of the river of life. I can nod and smile at the scientists as they argue their big bangs (or some other competing cosmological paradigm). I am ok with science. God made scientists too; and if there was a bang, God was behind it. Einstein talked about life as a vast library we are born into; like preverbal infants, we can see the books in the library, and order in the universe, even if we cannot read the words. I do not need to hold the pencil of God to know the hand that wrote the book of life.
For another year, Molly and I wish you the very best New Year’s Day, and a 2012 filled with great health, and an overabundance of love and happiness.
