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Happy New Year!
Printed in the Lake Norman Citizen
I've been thinking about "Happy New Year!" Our new year is still young and still ahead of us. I am glad that somewhere back in the dark recesses of history one of our ancestors woke up one morning and said, “What we need is some kind of device that helps us organize things and, better still, gives us a chance from time to time to start all over on things that need improvement. I’ve tried to study up on concepts like time and inventions like calendars but all of my study about such things just made my hair hurt. What I mostly want around this time each year is a new year and another chance. So, the person in history who invented the year gets my vote as the person of the…well, the year!
Of course, I wouldn’t want to change everything in the new year. Lots of things we enjoy repeatedly are great and I hope will never change. For instance, I love it that God built into us the desire for family and friends. I love to just sit, watch and listen to children. They give me confidence in the future. Also, to be around older folk and savor their wisdom, beauty and grace is a joy for me. This may be partly because I turned 70 years old on January 16.
And what would this world be like if it were devoid of conscience? How could we ever get by without an innate sense of justice, right and wrong? Oh, I know we are frayed around the edges in this regard. But, I’m glad that in our worst moments our better angels help us resist giving in to the barbarians who would defeat us.
I love most of our customs and traditions and want to keep them forever. However, I’d like to see some things improved in the new year. I’ll be a happier fan if I never again have to watch those officiating crews that were so poor in some of our Panthers games. The Bible says Jesus came to give sight to the blind and I…Oh, never mind! Also, I’m done with the terrible joblessness in our society. I’ll be in a better mood too if, in the new year, we can get some relief from the political divisions in our country. The foulness of the civic atmosphere just drags one down, doesn’t it? It being an election year, I may be hoping for too much.
Mostly I want to become a better, kinder person in 2012. I plan to fret less next year. The trouble with fretting is that it tends to indicate one is thinking mostly of one’s own self. I was standing wearily in the checkout lane at the grocery. The woman in front of me offered to allow me to get ahead of her because I was buying fewer items than she. I thanked her and declined. She said, “Oh, please let me be in the holiday spirit!” Then she quickly pushed her buggy around and got behind me in the line. I could only smile and say, “Thank you.” I want to be more like her in 2012.
Thank heavens for new years. The New Year’s holiday comes at just the right time for us. We have finished an old year with its joys and sorrows. Our best has morphed into fond memories and our worst has begun to fade into the past. Some of that worst will ferment into wisdom and we will sip it for the future. Our faith will help us grow toward our ideals and we will become at least partial answers to our own prayers. We will live more out of our larger selves and less out of our lesser selves. We will pray for our enemies and we will resist being our own worst enemies. We will thank God for life and for time and for new beginnings and for second chances to be the pretty good persons we were created to be. Happy New Year everyone!
