January
1, 2023
“The
year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the
wisdom that experience can instill in us.”
Hal
Borland
So…we start the cycle over,
the year, the month. This is the day after the celebrations, fireworks, and
auld lang syne. So far, I’ve steadfastly refused to say, “Happy New Year!”
because it sounds so cliché, and because I have difficulty summoning up an
authentic belief in it. So, today I’m going to try to maintain an attitude of, “Hopeful
New Year” instead.
I think
it’s truthful to say that everyone wants 2023 to be a better year than we've had for a while. Here’s a
quote that speaks to that possibility. It’s by J.P. Morgan: “The first step
towards getting somewhere [new] is to decide you’re not going to stay where you
are.” Clearly, we all subscribe to that. We know in our heart of hearts that
“a house divided against itself cannot stand.” (Matt. 12:25) Now we must
feel as well as know. We must let that reality sink deeply into our psyche and come
to rest in our hearts.
Gilbert
K. Chesterton said it best: “The object of a New Year is not that we should have a
new year. It is that we should have a new soul…” Today is a day like any
other in a month like any other. The only grand possibility is that we
ourselves have changed. When our hearts open and we welcome in our brothers and
sisters, no matter who they are or where they came from or what they look like, we will have the
change of heart that supports a Happy New Year. We have the wisdom. We have the
experience. What we need now is the will power to start over.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
1 comment:
Someone gave me a book by Alan Watts in which he also quoted Chesterton: " Because they take themselves lightly, Angels can fly". To me, that I then decided to read your blog , is what Jungians call synchronicity. I then read those blogs from previous days and found several themes that had also been emerging for me. On this 1st day of 2023, I want to thank you, Jane, for your time, energy, and wisdom that this introvert finds stimulating and useful. And, further, I think, Chesterton implies that our Souls need and en-Joy playfulness 😁
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