A New Year A New Hope

The churches’ new year started a month ago with the beginning of Advent, a time of waiting. However today is the first day of a new calendar year, a time for new beginnings. I try to set some sort of goal each year, some successful others not so much. Mostly they are hopes of improving myself as a person. Yesterday, I read about this coming Sunday’s bible reading about the three wise men and something stuck with me. It said “when they left, the way they viewed the world had been changed.” I find the idea of viewing the world in a new way, of looking at things with new eyes and having a new perspective on life very refreshing and hope giving. Jesus also said “I am the way”. My dream for this year is to be more compassionate and less judgemental and certainly less opinionated. Jesus loved all people, no matter what their beliefs were, including the women and children, the poor and the sick, absolutely everyone. If I am to follow “the way” of Jesus then I too need to be compassionate to everyone.

Working in the church brings me in contact with people from all walks of life, each of them with their own hopes and needs. I do my best to greet each of them with an open heart and mind and to respond to their requests with compassion and hopefully some knowledge. It’s not always easy. Life in this world today seems to run at a quick pace, lots to be done and not always the time to do it. There are tax receipts, annual reports and lots of other year end items to be attended to and yet I know each person that comes through our doors deserves to be listened to and most importantly, to be heard.

I work towards a world of peace and justice, in hopes that someday all people will have enough to eat, shelter to protect them and feel loved by others. It is so possible and could be so quickly achieved if everyone in this world had the same dream and views but sadly we all have a different way of viewing the world. I am not really sure where this year will take me or how I may try to view things differently but I have to live a life full of hope for a better tomorrow.

An arbutus tree view

Today as I head out hiking on the trails I hope that some wisdom or insight will come to me as I breathe in deeply the crisp cool air and take note of all the little wonders of creation. As when working in the church, out on the trail, I also need to slow down and take note of all there is to see and feel to take in the many different views. If I just speed along aiming to reach my goal I will miss out on all the amazing things along the side of the path. I will miss out on the views up above me or ahead of me. I won’t hear the sounds that nature brings to us, the little chirps of the birds, the rustling of the leaves in the wind or the silence that can be deeply fulfilling and allows God to be heard.

An upward view

Maybe this should be my new goal for this year, to live life slowly, to take in and cherish each moment of time. Not worry about what will happen five months from now or even tomorrow but to be mindful of each day. To take the time to listen and really hear what each individual person is saying to me and to respond with love and compassion. Just slowing life down and taking all that I see and hear deeply into my heart could change my view, give me a new outlook and hope for life and to help me become the person of compassion and kindness I so crave to be. It will take discipline and daily reminders to myself to slow down and to just be but I know that with all things in life, it is possible if I want it badly enough.

A view into the stillness

2014, a year of new beginnings, of new life (including my first grandchild), of a new way to view the world, with new hopes and dreams for all of us living together on this small planet. May you find peace and happiness this coming year, take in and cherish all of creation and live a life full of love.