Happy New Year! We had a momentary thrill from being able to say that we were taking part in the day 1.1.11. And then the buzz wore off and it was just another day except that it was January and warm enough to go for a 3-hour walk at the park.
New Year's Day I went to a coffee shop in Austin and the barista who made my drink confided to me that she was "so happy" to bid 2010 adieu. She said all week she had been giddy, knowing that a new year was right around the corner. She was so adamant about it that I wished her extra goodwill on this, the new year. She thanked me, then rolled her eyes and sighed, saying, "It can't be worse than 2010 was." I looked at this cute little hippy chick with the nose piercing and sweet demeanor and wondered what in her world could have been so awful to make her wish 2010 away so vehemently.
As I reflect on the last year with gratitude, wonder and happiness and look toward 2011 with feelings of trepidation and angst, I am reminded that the only constant in life is change. Births, deaths, marriages, divorces, new jobs, joblessness, happiness, sorrow, wealth, poverty...the cycle of life includes all of these things. I am reminded of the song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" that The Byrds made famous back in the 60s (and the lyrics of which were taken mostly from the Bible). Life is a continuous journey, not just with forks in the road but also with obstacles, wrong turns and retraced footsteps. Life is also a journey we take alone and yet together all at the same time, with shared experiences and emotions but with private thoughts and independent choices. It's all about change; to everything there is a season, turn, turn, turn.
How we choose to adapt and respond, in whatever year we're in, is up to us.
At Bible Study a few weeks ago, Matt popped in (it's a women's study and Matt likes to be an honorary woman some weeks!) and responded to some issue someone was discussing by quoting this passage from the Bible. The lady didn't know he was quoting the Bible and said, "Oh, that's that song, right??" So we showed her where it was in the Bible and she was so surprised that's where the song came from! Too funny!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but this winter I think I've finally started realizing how cyclical everything is. In the past, I would get down in the winter, and now I can recognize that it's not going to be forever and spring will be here soon. I can even see the beginnings of buds on the branches. I don't know why it's taken me this long to grasp this. Of course I relate it to all of life too. Like you said, good times and hard times and bad times will come. Now I realize that no matter what happens, this, too, shall pass.
Sarah, well said!
ReplyDeleteI think that the cyclicality (?) of life reminds me, too, of how fast time goes by. As each holiday season goes by, I'm reminded that I'm another year older. Each time summer ends and the new school year begins, I think of how all this has happened so many times before. Sometimes I look at pictures of people from 30,40,50 years ago, and I wonder if they feel their lives went by at lightning speed. I look at the elderly person and wonder how they got to be, well, OLD. But now I realize that it's happening to me! Not that I'm old, but that I'm not a kid anymore, and time is passing by quickly. I'm trying so hard to just enjoy the here and now, and not live for the future (the weekends, the summer, the holidays) because I don't want to wish any of my life away.