Happy new year! Resolutions & Joy
Dear friends & members of St. Matt's,
Happy New Year!
My email inbox was full last week (and I suspect yours was, too!) of messages about New Year's resolutions. Everything from helpful tips on keeping resolutions, to the resolutions that will change your life the most, and the perfect product to help you follow through. All of them promising one thing: the best you in 2020. Then there are the emails telling us that resolutions aren't so helpful - after all, what are we really saying with our resolutions? About the year that is past - about the year ahead? What happens when we don't keep our resolutions?
While I keep making the joke about how I hope 2020 will be a year of excellent vision, there isn't historically a lot of contact between the church and this idea of new year's resolutions. We have other seasons when we encourage growth and sacrifice - Lent, in particular, when we intentionally pursue spiritual growth through learning, habits, and new practices. So, where do we end up as Christians on this idea of resolutions for the new year?
First, it's always a good time - and never too late - to make your spiritual growth and your relationship with God a priority. Ringing in the new year with the hope of learning more about God and our faith, making strides in service, and brightening the world around us with the gift of God's love - well, it's always the right time to make that our aim. If as part of your health and wholeness in the new year, you can see a few concrete ways to engage in spiritual growth, to know yourself and God better, to love the world around you better, then I hope you'll make and keep those resolutions.
And second: know that the you of last year is just as beloved of God as the you of this year. There is nothing about you that needs changing in order for you to earn God's love, no thing you have to carve out of yourself or add into your life that makes you more worthy of the good plans God has stored up for you. Resolutions are only good for us insofar as they direct us more toward the abundant, healthy, whole life God already wants us to have. So if you're going to make some promises - or if you have already - I hope they'll reflect the truth that you are beloved, and I hope they'll move you more into an abundant, joyful life.
There will be many ways in this first half of the calendar year to grow in love with God and with this community at St. Matt's. Some of those opportunities are in our newsletter today - others will be announced in the next few weeks. Among them are a few opportunities on Sunday: our celebration of Epiphany and a special coffee hour after the 10:00am service hosted by our Joint Youth Group, and then the Burning of the Greens at 5pm when you're invited to bring some small wreaths, clippings from your tree, or other smaller greens to help us build our fire. On this 11th day of Christmas, may you know again the joy of the season - and however you move into this new year, with or without resolutions, may your path lead you into joy.
Faithfully,
--Marissa +
Tags: Welcome from the Rector