Dear Friends,
The new year is cause for celebration. We have parties and parades. We make resolutions and entertain hope that we can do or change something within ourselves that will make this year different. Looking toward the future can inspire hope and imagination. Looking forward can also inspire fear and anxiety as we imagine downward trends to continue, or name the difficult things in our lives that are not easily addressed with a simple resolution.
The Christian tradition has a good deal to say about times and seasons that are new. Our response to God is to be continually new as the Psalms ask us to “sing to the Lord a new song.” (Psalm 96:1) The Apostle Paul encourages us of the opportunity Christ gives us to become new. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor. 5:17) In Revelation, the voice from the throne declares, “See, I am making all things new.” (Rev. 21:5) We are commanded to sing new songs, we are made new by Christ, and we are promised a future that is new. New Year’s Day is a secular holiday, but the promise and opportunity of a new day, a new hope, a new love, and a new life is profoundly Christian. We may reasonably feel anxious about the year that lies ahead of us. But with each new day and each new breath we can be reassured that God is at work making all things new.
Happy New Year! Faithfully, Pastor Tricia