Faith Notes – January
I remember thinking once back in the ‘90’s about the “teen” years of the 21st century and saying to myself, “That is so long from now! I can’t even imagine what the world will be like then!” Well, here we are, 2015- the middle of the teen years of our new century.
In many ways, I was right to ponder that the world would be different. Back then, CD players were just starting to replace cassette players and were a far cry from the thousands of hours of music and audiobooks we can listen to with small mp3 players that are even smaller than a single cassette tape. There were no smartphones or social media sites in the ‘90’s and internet companies were just starting to get their foothold in the market… but enough of that. I am sure you nature-savvy Montanans don’t want to talk about how much more tech-savvy the world has gotten in the last two decades!
I share my past wonderings about our future/present to reflect on things that are common this time of year- resolutions. There is something about the change of the calendar year that makes people get up their gusto to finally say things like, “This upcoming year I am finally going to lose this extra weight”, or “This year I will finally start my side business venture”, or, my personal favorite, “I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.” The New Year gives many people an occasion for motivation; a clear opportunity to make a change.
And yet, I have probably known far more people to fail and give up on their resolutions than those who have followed through with the changes that they decided to make in their lives. It seems to be human nature that we are creatures of habit and our habits are hard to break. It is not necessarily our fault and definitely not something that we should beat ourselves up about, but a simple reality that it is hard for many of us to change ourselves. We are who we are, not matter how much we wish and will to be otherwise.
Yet, I think a bigger challenge than trying to change ourselves is to openly and honestly greet the changes in the world around us. While it seems that many of us are hardly able to change ourselves, it also is apparent that the world around us cannot stop from changing. I am sure that many of you know this even better than I do. As I think of members of our community who were born in the Great Depression, lived through World War II, lived in the world without electricity much less computers and the internet, my meager wonderings of how the world has changed since the ‘90’s seem almost laughable. I think you get my point more than I will even know.
As the world changes and the New Year comes, may we not shrink from the future that awaits us, but resolve to greet it in faith. May we trust that wherever the future takes us, God will be there. May we faithfully know God tomorrow, just as we know God today.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
I remember thinking once back in the ‘90’s about the “teen” years of the 21st century and saying to myself, “That is so long from now! I can’t even imagine what the world will be like then!” Well, here we are, 2015- the middle of the teen years of our new century.
In many ways, I was right to ponder that the world would be different. Back then, CD players were just starting to replace cassette players and were a far cry from the thousands of hours of music and audiobooks we can listen to with small mp3 players that are even smaller than a single cassette tape. There were no smartphones or social media sites in the ‘90’s and internet companies were just starting to get their foothold in the market… but enough of that. I am sure you nature-savvy Montanans don’t want to talk about how much more tech-savvy the world has gotten in the last two decades!
I share my past wonderings about our future/present to reflect on things that are common this time of year- resolutions. There is something about the change of the calendar year that makes people get up their gusto to finally say things like, “This upcoming year I am finally going to lose this extra weight”, or “This year I will finally start my side business venture”, or, my personal favorite, “I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.” The New Year gives many people an occasion for motivation; a clear opportunity to make a change.
And yet, I have probably known far more people to fail and give up on their resolutions than those who have followed through with the changes that they decided to make in their lives. It seems to be human nature that we are creatures of habit and our habits are hard to break. It is not necessarily our fault and definitely not something that we should beat ourselves up about, but a simple reality that it is hard for many of us to change ourselves. We are who we are, not matter how much we wish and will to be otherwise.
Yet, I think a bigger challenge than trying to change ourselves is to openly and honestly greet the changes in the world around us. While it seems that many of us are hardly able to change ourselves, it also is apparent that the world around us cannot stop from changing. I am sure that many of you know this even better than I do. As I think of members of our community who were born in the Great Depression, lived through World War II, lived in the world without electricity much less computers and the internet, my meager wonderings of how the world has changed since the ‘90’s seem almost laughable. I think you get my point more than I will even know.
As the world changes and the New Year comes, may we not shrink from the future that awaits us, but resolve to greet it in faith. May we trust that wherever the future takes us, God will be there. May we faithfully know God tomorrow, just as we know God today.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
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