2025

Christmas and New Year and our 55th wedding anniversary have all come and gone since I last sat down to write. At last, I’m released to use this calendar my daughter gave me 😊

Those who know me best know that I am intrigued by puzzles of all kinds, mysteries and whodunnits; it’s possible that I have watched most of the older British detective series in existence! I enjoy trying to see how the pieces fit, and hopefully the author is so clever that I am left puzzling until the very last chapter. I confess, few things are more satisfying to me than picking up on subtle clues and drawing the right conclusion!

But one puzzle that continues to tantalize me is the enigma of my own soul. It is interesting how, despite the tremendous tools provided by the Holy Spirit, it can be such a challenge to figure out one’s own heart and mind.  Even Paul was honest enough to recognize this: “My own behavior baffles me. For I find myself not doing what I really want to do but doing what I really loathe….In my mind I am God’s willing servant, but in my own nature I am bound fast,… to the law of sin and death…. It is an agonizing situation, and who on earth can set me free from the clutches of my sinful nature? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 7:19, 7:24 JBPhillips).

I wonder how many times I have raised my hands to heaven, exclaiming: “Oh Lord, here I am again! Please forgive me.” And yet, as I look back over the years, I am grateful to see that there HAS been change, that godly growth continues and although I am not what I should be, I also am not what I used to be. Paul’s honesty always encourages me: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17,18).

The New Year is traditionally a time to assess the past and try to adjust it for future success. But perhaps our time is better spent forgetting the past, its failures and successes, and making the best of this day, this hour, this moment. We simply can’t afford to let today run its course without “contemplating the Lord’s glory”, and without listening for “the still, small voice”.

This is the concluding verse from a favorite poem of mine by Susan Coolidge.

New Every Morning

Every day is a fresh beginning;

Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain,

And, spite of old sorrow and older sinning,

And puzzles forecasted and possible pain,

Take heart with the day, and begin again.

May 2025 be remarkable for the bright glory of HIS presence on it from the first day to the last, regardless of circumstance!

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