Sheep-y Resolutions
This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year and the church’s New Year’s Eve party! Apart from watching a crystal ball slide down a pole in Times Square, how do we mark the New Year? Most of us think about a New Year’s Resolution.
This is a good practice. New Year’s is a good opportunity to pause and reflect on the year past, and to think about changes we would like to make in the coming year. Of course, the problem is that New Year’s Resolutions too often fall by the wayside before the ink is even dry. I like to take “spin” classes at the gym a couple of times a week. (“Spin” is a group workout on stationary bikes.) At the beginning of January, the class swells dramatically – so much so that on some days it is hard to find a bike. But we regulars all know that by the end of January, we will be back to the normal size class.
Where have you come in your Christian life in the last year? What might God have you change in the next year? In order for that change to happen, what do you need to do differently as you begin the New Year? Do you need to incorporate some regular discipline of prayer in your life? Bible reading? Some new opportunity for service? Perhaps you need to work at reconciling a relationship or forgiving some past hurt. Perhaps the church New Year can be your opportunity to commit to new action in your faith.
Too often, we wait to act on things that we know we should do, thinking we’ll “know” when the time is right. But, perhaps, the best way to get ready is to just do it.
Celebrate the church’s New Year with a good Resolution. And decide now that it is not going to fall by the wayside by the end of month.
On Sunday, we will hear the parable of the sheep and the goats, and perhaps some resolutions that might make us a little more sheep-y!
In Christ,
Fr. Eric Turner
This column first appeared in the November 26, 2017 issue of St. John’s eNews. Click here for the complete issue.
If you are reading this at a later time, you may click here for the current eNews.
