Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! 2020 has gone on its way!!!
I have to say I am a little amused by all of those who spent the last month of the year looking forward to year’s end as if somehow on January 1st everything would magically return to normal. It might have been refreshing if the longing was grounded in a newfound hope and faith in the Lord. However, almost universally it seemed to come from a sense of fatigue with the disruption and inconvenience to their daily lives. Most had not lost any family members or jobs or become ill themselves. They were just becoming tired of no longer having control over their daily activities and those of their children. They just had the universal belief that 2021 was going to be, somehow, magically, much better. Needless to say it didn’t take long for that illusion to disappear in the United States. Within the first week of the year, the frustrations and divisions that became the hallmarks of 2020 for so much of our country boiled over into a sad and demoralizing display of civil unrest. Instead of rising up and getting to work on a new and .better day, the nation has quickly sunk deeper into the divisive and political bickering that was always brewing under the guise of differing approaches to responding to the COVID-19 crisis. With the ‘gloves off’ we have quickly recognized that we have challenges well beyond this pandemic.
A Chance to Re-focus
The ever-growing crisis of division was as much a hallmark of 2020 as was COVID-19. To think that a change in the calendar would make a difference is foolish. As we look forward to the coming year, we do so with open eyes and with a recognition that the challenges to Gospel living remain significant. We do ourselves and others a disservice if we don’t take advantage of the lessons that 2020 presented us. I like to think of 2020 as nearly year-long retreat experience. On retreat we get a chance to refocus. We remove ourselves from our daily routines and are given the opportunity to examine how we are living our lives and to explore how we might better discover pathways to joy and peace. Even for those not directly infected with the virus, COVID-19 definitely disrupted daily living. With so many of our daily activities eliminated or severely restricted, we found ourselves staying much closer to home. And much like on retreat, we had plenty of time alone to pray and ponder our life’s journey. As I intimated last month, there are good things we can take away from our 2020 experiences. As we head into the real world of 2021, perhaps we can do so strengthened by things we have experienced and learned over the past year.
KEVIN
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