The New Year
New Year’s Day 2020… There’s something exciting about a New Year. It hasn’t been used yet. It’s not worn out. It’s unsullied, clean, ready to be dabbled in, played with, its treasures still to be discovered. Nothing has yet happened to make it dirty or ragged or broken.
That’s rather fearful, to know I haven’t wrecked it yet. Maybe I should just stay in bed, not experience it. I wouldn’t want to make a mistake, mess it up. I especially don’t want to spoil it for anyone else.
Well, I can’t avoid this New Year. Even if I stay in bed, it will still come. I will be in it whether I choose to be or not.
So, I’ll put my best foot forward (um… which one is that?) and step boldly into the future (where no one has gone before). Sure, I will mess up something, but life is a gift, a gift is to be lived, used and appreciated.
Later…
Now I’ve been in this New Year for a while, and it doesn’t feel very new anymore. The newness has worn off. I’ve had a few joys; I’ve had a few disappointments. The busy glow of the Christmas and New Year holiday season has faded. I no longer feel that initial gladness of returning to quiet routine.
It’s one of those days that won’t be remembered. It’s a cloudy day, a stay-at- home day and get-some-chores-done day; nothing special, just “same-old”.
It’s the same old kitchen floor that needs cleaning. This floor reminds me of yesterday when I made spaghetti and the tomato sauce splashed; and of the day before when the tea bag missed the compost bin; and the crumbs remind me of toast for breakfast for the past week.
As I carefully push my broom, I mentally sweep my negative thoughts into a pile, scoop them into the dustpan and dump them into the garbage bag. No point rehearsing the disappointments of yesterday. Let them go! Tie the bag! Drop it with the negativity into the garbage can in the garage for hauling away. Only open it to put more in.
As clean, hot water sloshes into the bucket, I think of the seemingly endless supply of good, clear water we have at our fingertips here in Canada. I’m grateful! Realizing God’s love also has an endless supply, I inhale deeply, am thankful, and receive. I swish the mop to and fro, stopping to scrub harder at a stubborn stain. I pause and lean on the mop handle. I have a stubborn stain of resentment against someone. It’s been hardening in my heart for a while. Will I skirt around it? Will I ignore it? Will I let my mind dwell on it and swell it into hate? Or, will I let God’s compassion for me dissolve the resentment for the wrong another did to me? Angrily, tearfully, I scrub at the spaghetti sauce splatters on my kitchen floor till it shines.
Suddenly, the sun breaks through the clouds and sunbeams streak across the room, lighting up my clean kitchen floor.
Relieved, released and the chore finished, I leave the floor to dry, grab a jacket and enjoy a stroll outside in the sunshine.
This is a New Day and I am glad to be in it!
by Andrea Kidd
