Another New Day
by: Jon Crane

Saturday Ramblins, Vol. 2, No. 1 (January 9, 1999)

I've never been much of a reflective person as one year turns into another. I resolved a long time ago not to even entertain the thought of a New Year's resolution. My life has had enough failures in it. There is no sense programming more.

Like many people, I suppose, other milestones - other endings and beginnings - have marked my life: the birth of a child or, more recently, the birth of a grandchild. Lana's death. Selling one car and buying another. A trip to see a daughter. A visit from a daughter. A new friend, a new job. Such were my milestones in 1998. Each, in its own way, was an ending and a beginning.

Grouping these events in the context of a single year would make 1998, as Charles Dickens said, "The best of times and the worst of times." But what calendar year isn't?

If I were a reflective person at the New Year, I'd say I learned from some of the events of 1998. For example, following the death of a loved one, the long night of grief, loss and despair seem like the end of the road. But through the grace of God comes a dawn of healing and acceptance. In that freshening light, you see that you are merely at a bend in the road. It goes on, life goes on, and you must go on or be forever mired in the past.

You leave nothing behind as you follow in this new path God has opened for you. The precious and dear moments of the past have become a part of you and are carried with you everywhere. They shine new light on both old and new experiences; on long-time friends, on new and special people who come into your life.

A popular and trendy saying from some years ago comes to mind: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." As with a lot of clichés, the obvious isn't always clear. Each day, in itself, is a new chance, a new possibility, with a renewed sense of hope if you allow it, if you open yourself to the will of God and accept where He leads you and what He gives you.

Trying to see a new day in the context of a new year is difficult when you remember that we are only promised today. Tomorrow, if it comes, will take care of itself, with God's help. So, I treat January 1 as I treat today or any other day: another chance, another act of faith.