It’s necessary for us to mark time, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 365 days in a year with a minor adjustment every 4 years when we have 366 days. Growing up, we had Chinese calendars hanging on our walls usually from a Chinatown grocery store. They were always red signifying good luck. If it wasn’t for calendars, each day would just be one more day and we wouldn’t remember when to celebrate our birthdays. That would be terrible to not have anything to look forward to.
When I was on staff with the American Baptists in Valley Forge, it was before cell phones with digital calendars. We kept our important dates in a small pocket size ABC issued datebook. Then someone introduced us to Day-Timers, desk organizers to help us to remember dates and plan for upcoming trips. I have had a Day-Timer, 2-Page-Per-Week Format for close to 40 years! And whenever they asked me to evaluate my Day-Timer, I have always written back that there isn’t enough space on Sunday when I do most of my work. I’m still waiting for a revised format for people who work on Sundays.
All of us have said how fast time marches on. I thought about why we think about time being “Father Time,” an old man perhaps with a scythe or an hourglass showing us that time is only a one-way movement. And it seems that 2016 has had more untimely deaths than in other years. Recently, we are saddened about celebrities like Carrie Fisher and George Michael still in their prime years of life not being with us anymore. And if you have a passing of a loved one, you know how devastating it is.
Father Time happens even when we don’t like it. We pray that change in the US presidency will lead to positive results especially to those who are most vulnerable. We ring in the New Year as we have done in years past with the confidence that God is always with us like the way, Emmanuel, the incarnation at Christmas. We look for the divine goodness in each other and build upon that to foster a more loving and caring society. And as the church of Christ, we are always the foretaste of the reign of God, what is to come and will be. Let’s make a resolution to not shirk from our responsibilities to spread the hope, joy, love, and peace of our Lord in our troubled world.
As the New Year comes, I am reminded of Revelations 21:3-6a. John sees “the New Heaven and the New Earth.”
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” We can look forward to next Christmas now.
Let us welcome 2017 believing that in Christ, the New Heaven and the New Earth is upon us.