Happy New Year!
I thought you might enjoy some of these questions to ponder as we enter the new year. :)
How would you like God to take care of you in the new year?
Looking back at the last year, what was life draining? When did I feel really alive?
*for example, my son says pants are life draining and so he prefers to always & only wear shorts. ; )
When did I feel closed? When was I connected with God or others? When was I disconnected? What was I grateful for? What was I not grateful for? (*questions inspired by spiritual director Jessica Sanborn)
This was the view on my way home from bringing my daughter to school the other day. Some beauty from the cold. It was as if the sun was tricking me with her beauty, each reflection of light was so strong that at first it was hard to tell which was the source. As I pulled over to admire her puzzling beauty, the song Amazing Grace came on the radio. It is one of those songs that plays at just the right time, making it feel like a hug wink from Creator. I woke up that morning longing for direction, namely for direction about my kids’ education. Do I continue to homeschool my boys? Will I ‘be enough’ as time goes on? What is the next best choice for their development? All those kinds of questions started racing, so I made the conscious choice that I would simply continue to enjoy this season. I told God I was going to do the work to explore our options, but mostly continue to enjoy the connection and beauty of where we are right now. My heart also told God I would love some comfort for the way. And then this. Thank you God for sharing your beauty and for the opportunity to be open to it.
As we move into the New Year, I would like you to know, I am praying with and for you. Do you have any prayer requests? I would be honored to be praying alongside of you. The longings of your heart matter. You are seen. You are heard. Your cares matter to our Creator who is with us in our longings for our new, fresh year.
I would also like to share a ‘new to me’ take on an old prayer that I found touching this last year, and I thought you might as well. A dear mentor shared it with me. She taught me to add ‘in me’ at the end of each phrase of The Lord’s Prayer. Praying it this way helps me direct my attention toward the truth of Immanuel, God with us. I would love to share it with you. Admittedly, some of the phrases work better than others, but nonetheless, I appreciate the mystery that comes with reflecting on the prayer this way. It went something like this:
Our Father which art in heaven (in me)
Hallowed be thy name (in me)
Thy Kingdom come (in me)
Thy will be done (in me)
On earth as it is in heaven (in me)
Give us this day our daily bread (in me)
and forgive us our debts (in me)
as we forgive our debtors (in me)
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (in me)
For thine is the Kingdom (in me)
and the power (in me)
and the glory, forever. Amen.
May our thoughts and actions contribute to the unfolding awareness of God’s presence with us. Many blessings and joy to you! I look forward to sharing more with you soon!:)
Inspiration:
New Day’s Lyric
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.
This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.
Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.
We heed this old spirit,
In a new day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be Bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
-Amanda Gorman