Happy New Year!
As we begin this new year, let us begin it simply; not with a complicated list of dos and don’ts, but rather with a clear goal of trying to make a difference in the time we are given here. In 2014, may we all find ways to be kinder and more loving and more faithful...to our family, our friends and ourselves...and to the stranger and to our God.. With that in mind, I offer Mary Fairchild’s poem,
A New Year’s Plan
I tried to think of a clever new phrase—
A slogan to inspire the next 365 days,
A motto to live by this coming new year,
But the catchy words fell flat to my ear.
And then I heard His still small voice
Saying, “Consider this simple, daily choice:
With each new dawn and close of day
Make new your resolve to trust and obey.”
“Don’t look back caught in regret
Or dwell on the sorrow of dreams unmet;
Don’t stare forward anchored by fear,
No, live in this moment, for I am here.”
“I am all you need. Everything. I Am.
You are held secure by my strong hand.
Give me this one thing—your all in all;
Into my grace, let yourself fall.”
So, at last I’m ready; I see the way.
It’s to daily follow, trust, and obey.
I enter the new year armed with a plan,
To give him my everything. All that I am.
—Mary Fairchild
Let us strive in 2014 to look at our neighbors (locally and globally) and celebrate what brings us together by acknowledging our commonalities and celebrating our differences, while not letting them create divisions among us.