After great anticipation, preparation and perhaps a few tears…Christmas day is over. We can now sit for a bit, catch our breath, and reflect back on the joy we have just shared.
While you sit back and relax, let me share a few thoughts for the coming year. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. You earned it.
Let us start with Boxing Week. During Boxing Week millions will worship at the altar of the almighty buck instead of the alter of the Almighty God. Many will head out this coming week in full battle gear and fight, kick, punc,h and tear each other apart for the opportunity to pick up a prized gem at 20% off. No doubt the news media will report how some lost their lives in these ‘noble’ battles. I say stay home and share some precious time with your loved ones. If you do venture outdoors this week, do so with the full Armor of God and do battle in his name.
I am sure you took in a good haul this Christmas. Why not consider sharing some of your good fortune with others? If you have two, then share one. If you have one, then share half. If you have half and your cupboards aren’t bare, then consider giving it away; there are those in greater need than you. God has already provided you with a blessing. If you have nothing extra then thank the Lord for having provided you with what you need.
Let us look forward now to the coming year. Inevitably you will make a number of New Year’s resolutions that you will never keep even if your intentions are good. Let me suggest some that are so easy for you to keep yet they will impact you tremendously. You won’t even have to breakout a sweat.
Random Acts of Kindness
They can be simple acts that may not require a great deal of effort on your part but may significantly impact a fellow soul. Slowly build up your strength to give progressively greater acts of kindness and condition your body and soul to higher levels of joy. I would even encourage you to bring someone along and join you on these Random Acts of Kindness.
The Gift of Love
For those of you who are more courageous perhaps you may want to consider giving the Gift of Love..in ALL its forms. I don’t necessarily mean all the mushy lovey-dovey kind of love (though there is nothing wrong with that at all). I am speaking of a deeper kind of love: forgiveness, caring for those in need, sacrificing for others. For many of us, the Lord our God overflows our cup yet we dish out charity in a thimble? Think about it.
Reading God’s Word
Here is one that you can slowly chip away at your leisure. Consider actually reading the whole Bible – the Old Testament and the New Testament – from cover to cover. I can’t understand how many people call themselves Christians but have never read the Bible or have only read a few choice chapters or verses. of it. That is like reading pages 17, 93, and 253 of a 500-page book and saying, “Yeah, I get it.” Well, you don’t. I say one should, at least once in their lifetime, read the Bible from cover to cover. Why not start this coming year. Take your time. Don’t rush it, but start it and don’t stop. Keep going.
An Empty Seat at the Table
I have one final one Mother Teresa said it best, “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” I wonder how many slaughtered unborn children and lost souls will not be spending Thanksgiving or Christmas with families this coming year? Consider starting a new tradition this coming year. When your family and your loved ones are at the dinner table, leave an empty seat in memory of those poor souls whose lives were cut short. Better still, invite a person with no family to fill that empty seat. Inevitably your children will ask about the empty seat at the table. What an opportunity to share a life lesson with them – there is no greater gift than sharing the wisdom of God with your child.
I will leave you with this thought for the coming year – ” If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it…make it BETTER!” God bless you and have a Happy New Year.!
Copyright © 2013, Luciano Corbo
Luciano Corbo
Luciano Corbo holds a Master of Arts - Integrated Studies from Athabasca University. His major interests are Culture, Work, Organizations and Leadership, within a context of Catholic Social Teaching Principles. He writes from Canada.
One response to “Sobering Thoughts for the New Year”
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I have always been a true believer and I did much more that just give one away. I and my son on Jesus’s birthday knocked on every door in my building and to those who answered I gave them a entire meal in the name of God our Father for his Son Jesus.
I have a story of my own. I am very poor and terminally ill and was told 2 weeks ago to start getting my thing in order, on top of that I have a son that has cerebral palsy. He is now 31 years old and I have never gotten any help from anyone but God. My entire family has turned there back on me since he was born and now when I need them the most there is no one but my Faith in God to help me. May God Bless all of you Always