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January 06, 2008

Rector's Reflections - A New Year

Jesus said, “The time has come! God’s kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:15). As we look toward a new year, it is easy to lose sight of the spiritual dimensions of our lives. Sadly, life in all its craziness distracts from opportunities to grow spiritually. In Paul’s epistles, he uses the term, ‘metanoia’ a Greek word that means ‘a change of heart.’ It echoes the Hebrew word “teshunah” which means ‘turning around.’

We’re called at all times, but maybe especially by the occasion of a New Year to turn from old, self-destructive habits and try with renewed vigor to rediscover the spiritual and Christ-like dimensions of our lives. We’re called to embrace a resolution of the heart and spirit that alone can bring us true happiness, peace, hope and joy. We must be willing to listen to God’s message with our whole hearts and then be willing to change things that keep us from developing a deeper religious core. The goal is a spiritual revolution from within, in which we stand simply before God with our arms extended, ready to do God’s will, trusting him with our whole hearts.

The great saint, Mother Teresa, often met people who wanted to follow her to India. She would smile and say, “God wants you to go home and take care of your own family.” Good advice, take care of those around you including yourself. Mother Teresa had a keen understanding of what God wanted of her like and of our own. “God does not want us to do great things,” she said. “God wants us to do small things with great love.” Let that be a New Year’s resolution: to do all the small things in our lives with great love.

Often, our New Year’s resolutions flounder because we try to do too much, fail, and end up doing nothing. Rabbis have a saying, “tafasta merubah lo tafasta”, which means, “One who grabs too much, grabs nothing.”
I urge you this New Year to start with doable resolutions. Perhaps you can begin praying for five minutes. Perhaps every three months you can volunteer at the food bank. Maybe you can help teach a Sunday school class at Trinity. Whatever it is you choose to do, do it with great love.

My prayer for us all, as we begin a New Year, is that we will come to fully trust and know the love, hope and joy, which can be found in turning to God and serving Him with our whole hearts.

Fr. Mike