Friends,
A new year is upon us! And not just a new year, but a new decade in which we say goodbye to both 2019 and the 2010s, a transition marked by the notably optometrical number of 2020.
Think about what this transition represents. On a personal level, this was the decade in which I graduated from seminary; in which I was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament; in which my three children were born; in which my family and I moved to Sylva. On a churchly level, this was the decade in which our congregation experienced six years of pastoral change; in which we celebrated our 75th anniversary; in which we purchased our Transition House and began our Cornerstone capital improvements campaign; in which we said goodbye to many loved ones, even as we welcomed and baptized many more. It’s been a decade of ups and downs, trials and victories, joys and laments. What, I wonder, does it represent for you?
For many of us, such transitions are achingly nostalgic. We can’t help but dwell on mistakes we’ve made, opportunities we’ve missed, or fond memories of times gone by. Still, others of us might feel daringly optimistic and hopeful as we make plans, set goals, and cast visions for the year ahead.
Neither of these reactions is wrong – but they do need to be tempered with the Gospel. When we’re tempted to idolize the past, Jesus tells us not to hold too tightly onto our treasures on earth. When we’re tempted to idolize the future, Jesus reminds us that only his Father knows what’s ahead. Our call, then, is to live one day at a time by the grace of God – because Jesus does promise us that.
As we reflect on this, I want to leave you with a poem. A dear friend shared it with me and I wanted to share it with you – my dear friends and church family – as we enter a new year and new decade together.
Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
Happy New Year,
Blake