See, I am making all things new …. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. —Revelation 21: 5-6 (excerpts)

ALL THINGS NEW

As we turn into a new year, it is common to reflect on the year we have just experienced, to take stock, note the joys and sorrows, and harvest the lessons. Then we naturally turn to the year that is before us, a blank slate upon which we will draw with a sense of possibility, perhaps even adventure.

As you reflect on 2023, what insights, invitations, and aspirations for 2024 come to you?

Often, we do this in the form of “new year’s resolutions,” things we want to do differently or begin to do for the first time. Experience teaches us that most of these resolutions fall by the wayside fairly quickly and we return to old habits and ways of being. But what if we were to think of these not as resolutions for things to do, but as intentions for ways of being and acting? This does not set us up so strongly for success or failure, but simply points us in new—or renewed—directions for exploration, for trying on.

What would it be like for you to shift your orientation in this way?

In the face of a world that seems to be coming apart in many ways across the globe, and perhaps even locally or personally for you, is it still possible to hope for something new? Can there really be “peace on earth and goodwill among people”—the promise of the Christmas season we have just been through? It seems the evidence, if we pay attention at all to the news feeds, tells us otherwise.

Yet the author quoted above looks to something deeper than our ordinary sources of hope, comfort, and security; something deeper than reliance on our strengths and efforts alone; something more enduring than peace accords, treaties, new year’s resolutions, self-motivations, and campaigns (though all of these are important). This “something deeper” is a mystery that cannot be captured in a name, yet is given many names by various faith traditions, and even by those outside of a tradition. The author calls this the “alpha and omega,” the source of all beginnings, and simultaneously the end toward which all is longing.

What is your name for this deep mystery”

How do we get in touch with this depth of life, and form our intentions from it? All faith traditions have meditative practices that have this as an aim. Common threads in these practices are stopping, turning, paying attention, letting go, listening, receiving, and responding. Underlying these threads is a trust in this deep mystery—that it really is a source of peace and goodwill; that it really can be—and indeed is, despite “evidence to the contrary”—at work in this direction.

The implication is that we are not alone in this work; that our intentions themselves arise from this deep place and are reflective of it. That this is not solo work but work in which we are accompanied both by Mystery itself and by others on a similar path. Our practice of reflection on the past year and forming intentions for the new one is our way of circling back, year by year, to this ultimate source that guides, nourishes, and accompanies us on the way.

How are your experiencing this Source as you make your turn into this new year?

May you, as you engage in your own practices, tap into the spring of living water that satisfies your thirst and that, like an artesian well, flows always.

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