The countdown to the New Year is on, and we are about to let this horrible experience that was 2020 go. It gives us something to look forward to, some hope. This is not to say that good things, miraculous things, didn’t happen this year. It is just harder to remember them. When I count my blessings, they are there, I just have to want to find them.
I try to shy away from language that blames something intangible, like the year 2020, for anything. There is blame to go around for various things, and certainly racism, poverty and hatred haven’t ended. But that is not the fault of a year, it is the fault of bad human choices.
The end of the year brings an opportunity for introspection. How have we lived into our baptismal covenant? Have we participated in church? Forgave and asked for forgiveness? Been consistent in our faith as we live it in our lives? Have we served others with love? Have we treated people with dignity and respect, sought justice, God’s justice? That is how we measure our lives. And we all have had good moments and challenges.
As you consider 2021, I suggest you do not waste your time on unfounded hope, or promising resolutions you will not keep. I suggest that you dust off a copy of your baptismal promises (BCP p 304) and use them to craft a plan for making yourself better, for working to become the child of God you were created to be. This might include reasonable caffeine intake or weight loss, but more likely it includes loving yourself, and your neighbor as yourself. More likely it includes a more gentle and kind presence in your world, loving people who don’t deserve it, and not being so hard on yourself.
There are no guarantees about what 2021 will bring. January 1 won’t end hatred or Covid19. But we can commit ourselves to love and be loved, to be kind and treat all people with respect, to rest a little more and breathe more deeply. 2021 will simply be what we all make it. So let’s make it a blessing.