Monday, December 29, 2014

Say "Yes" to the New Year

Dear Friend,
In a matter of a few days, we end 2014.
2015 will be laid out before us, whole and entire, precious for the unfolding of our lives,
Our Church gives us Mary as our companion  as we approach the new year:
Mary, the Mother of God, our mother, sister and friend.

When the time was right, by God’s reckoning,
Mary said yes to God and the timeless Word of God came through her to all of us.
Now the time is right for us also to say yes to God in a fresh new way.

We may have said yes to God in 2014, and for many years before that, but yes is a word that is best repeated, renewed in our conviction as we come to a new point in life.
Some beliefs, values and hopes, desires and relationships we carry with us into the new year.
These are time-honored.
Still other life-ingredients from 2014 and before,
We fling away, walk away from, disavow, reject, hardly remember.
Hey are time-bound.

God knows what the coming year will bring.
At the same time, God is not capricious, not a manipulator of our future,
but in a loving glance, sees yesterday, today and tomorrow as one.
God honors our choices. God knows their outcome.
But we don’t know.

Like Mary, before the power of the Most High  overshadowed her,
all we can do is trust that our willingness to say yes to God
Is the right thing, the generous, life-stirring thing to do.
Our own emptiness is needed, so that God’s Spirit may lead us in new ways.

Here and now, pause and place your hand over your heart, and sit quietly for a moment. Give God all of 2014. Give God all of our unknowing about the new year and all our willingness to be faithful. Let the beating of our heart be a yes to God. As the year continues, pause every now and again, place your hand over your heart, take a moment of quiet and repeat your yes.

Yes is the beginning of the joy of knowing God, loving God and all creation.  Happy New Year.