As much as I want to ignore the goings on of this particular time of year I don’t need to on this occasion – it plays into my favour.
My dad was never one for these kinds of thing – not a party man, not one for the big festivities and all that kind of jazz. He is a man who takes most things in his stride and takes every day as it comes. Each day was another day to him – another day to do things and enjoy his day as he does regularly – whether that’s working hard, or enjoying his church or really enjoying his allotment. It was just another day – each filled with the potential to be a good one and for each day he would find contentment. Even when it came to birthdays or anniversaries it was hardly a big deal to him. That level of equanimity really puts the fuss that people can make of days into perspective.
I really value those priceless times of life, and as I’ve written elsewhere, I’m a big believer in landmarks and milestones. It’s important to celebrate these things and mark them as steps along the journey of life. I like the thing we do for Lord’s Supper annually in getting to know the story behind the festival – why it’s a big deal not just from Jesus’ position but where it was coming from in the Exodus and how it was foreshadowing the great work to come.
That’s brilliant – that whole symbolism and involvement in the story of what has been that defines you and what that means for your identity as you go forward. It’s all very encouraging and to note that that is what certain times of year means for people males it fine with me to see people celebrating and having fun at this time of year.
For me, though, it’s not that big a deal because nothing significant has ever happened on the 31st December or 1st January. The year might be celebrating a birthday, but I’m not. Lots of things have happened over the year, but they in themselves will be things worth celebrating in themselves as the year comes around. For example, April is a special time for me, because I remember that as the real spring of my spiritual renaissance in 2006. December, as you know, is special because of the birth of my firstborn. August is precious as it marks the birth of my beloved wife. September is special as that is when my sister and my dad were born. My second daughter came along in the same month as my mother, so that’s special.
On it goes, special times to remember special things that have happened in life that are worth celebrating and rejoicing over and over. They provide the opportunity to remember the story of how it came to be, what it has come to mean and where it can help shape the future expression of the identity that it has established.
So it is on this evening I’m chilling in me crib with Abigail. We’re sorting out the washing and drying for most of the laundry that has clogged up over the last week or so. We’re catching up on some Dr. Who from the end season 3 with Martha and Captain Jack joining the Doctor in fighting the Master who has become the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Other than that there’ll be plenty to keep me occupied for the rest of the evening (you should see the laundry!) and then I’ll retire to sleep at the end of what my dad would tell me is just another day. Just the end of another day, at the end of another month, at the end of another year.
Oh but it’s more than that – it’s the end of another step in the journey. God has allowed you and me to see the end to another step and for whatever was in that step and however we viewed it, that we have made it here is worth being thankful for. It is not guaranteed that we’ll make another step and for some of us in some shape or form, just as it has been for us in life, it will be journey’s end. While there’s breath in the body, though, for all the highlighted special times, let us appreciate every moment of every day as another opportunity to enjoy another step in this mysterious, fabulous, frustrating and glorious journey of life.
Speaking of the end of journeys, this entry spells the end of the journey of blogging ... on Blogger. I’ve really enjoyed blogging on this and will always be grateful for the platform they’ve given – hey it’s free – to be able to put these witterings and wonderings for the past four years. As I’ve hinted at here and there over the year I’ve been thinking about alternatives and as you may have gathered, I’ve been blogging through WordPress for both Life Journey Notes and Among Friends and have found it to have a few advantages to Blogger (as well as one or two drawbacks). After wrangling over it for months, I came to the conclusion that it was time to give it a test run for this main blog. It’s a work in progress and obviously a few things will have to be ironed out over the time, but like a number of things occurring in me life it’s a time of new beginnings and so it should be for me blog.
I’ve been really grateful for the improved prolific writing this year on the blog. I think there’s been more good than bad over the year and hopefully in the year to come I can step up the level of consistency especially with the written material, accompanying the YouTube posts. To maintain this level of posts and have a level of consistency throughout the year, is my desire not for my own sake as me tagline suggests. I want to build on these things and see where we go from there. I didn’t have a clue just what would emerge in 2009, but overall I’m grateful to God for some good things that have come up with. So who’s to say what will happen in the time to come – whatever may come I hope to enjoy what happens and take it in some ways better than I have this year.
God bless you in whatever steps along the journey you make – hope you at least get to see His presence in them and like one writer be able to say, whatever your lot He has taught you to say ‘it is well with my soul’.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
dmcd
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