Funny old day

I am not sure why people get so hung up about New Year's Eve. Some people find it a very depressing day especially if they are on their own and everyone else seems to be going to a party. Having just returned from our local Sainsbury's the signs are the parties will be many in Hastings, the amount of alcohol in the trolleys around me. Other people will stand out to wait for midnight in the wind and the rain. 

I guess the turn of the year moves us to think about our lives and what has happened to us in the past and what on earth is going to happen in the future. If the year that is about to end has been bad, we want it gone, and we want the New Year to be better. The turn of the year though doesn't magically make everything okay though. 

But maybe it is good to have times in the human experience that make us stop and think and contemplate deeper things. I see a spiritual director every six weeks or so, and at our last meeting, she got me to think about where God was in every twist and turn of 2013. I found it a powerful exercise. Was God present when I struggled? Did I see God in times of great joy and hopefulness? 

We trace the hand of God through our experience and we need to be open enough to see God in future possibility. This coming year will be different for me - some developments beyond my control happened a month or so ago - and the path ahead might be a bit challenging, but I will start the journey with companions on the way, encouraging, supporting, laughing and crying, pondering with me what we do when we haven't a clue what to do! Most of all, going forward we need to be aware that God doesn't stick to a script and may well do things we are not ready for. We step out in faith. I like what Henri Nouwen says in "Bread for the Journey": "  Each day holds a surprise, but only if we expect it can we see, hear or feel it when it comes to us.” If we start thinking we will be overwhelmed by problems, we will be overwhelmed.    

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a letter to a young boy at New Year which ends these ponderings well: "Godspeed. Good health in this New Year, and above all don't forget the few things in life that are really important and that make life worth living." 

Tonight people will see in 2014 in a variety of ways. Some will be out in the cold; others will be at a party, some may be in church; some will go to bed and ignore it; some may sit and reflect in quietness. I will have a glass or two, with a cat on my lap, and make do with television delights - Challenge are showing first episodes of classics - 9pm is Treasure Hunt! My Dad and I used to love Treasure Hunt. Back to the chopper, Anneka! Then it is Gary Barlow live from Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. REALLY!

Whatever, the opportunity for reflection and refocus is a valuable one.