Resolutions
RESOLUTIONS
How do you feel about New Year’s resolutions? Everyone seems to have an opinion, either for or against. I’m ambivalent, which means I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions—but if something good comes along, I’ll consider it.
I heard a good one recently: move your body more this year than last year. It’s a perpetual resolution and a good goal to have, especially as I get older.
In a recent blog post, author and entrepreneur Seth Godin wrote:
Every year, on the first weekend of the year, it’s probably worth replacing the dried spices in your pantry. The best, freshest spices still taste like the spice that’s on the label, but they taste more like themselves…
First, we have to figure out what we are, what we stand for…
Then we get a chance to be more like that.
Fortunately, Matthew 5:13a in The Message tells us who we are and what we stand for: “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth.”
Jesus doesn’t say you will be the salt of the earth. He says you are the salt of the earth. Jesus doesn’t call us to be something new—something we can try to do more of, like losing weight or exercising more. Things we may start with good intentions, but, well… you know. Jesus reminds us who we are.
So rather than a ritual of resolution, let’s simply be who we are. Not reinvention, but recentering. More presence, less performance. Not programming, but prayer. Not hustle, but holiness. An opportunity to remember who we are—and whose we are.
We return to the promise of God spoken to us through the prophet Isaiah: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine… I will be with you… You are precious in my sight.”
Adam Borneman of The Ministry Collaborative planted the seed of thought that inspired this post. Here is a prayer he wrote, which I’ve edited slightly to share with you:
Christ our teacher,
you invited people not to observe you, but to walk your way,
trusting that transformation would come
through costly faithfulness sustained by grace.
Less display, more discipleship.
Less growth, more grace
Holy Spirit, order our steps.
Silence.
Jesus,
you call those who are weary to find rest in you,
and you send us into the world
not as a system to be optimized,
but as your living body,
bearing witness through love.
Less hustle, more holiness.
Less management, more ministry.
Longer silence.
Hear us, O Lord.
Triune God,
have mercy on us;
surround us, and lead us into your joy.
As always, go make peace, my friends.
Pastor Leanne
Community Presbyterian Church
32202 Del Obispo
San Juan Capistrano. CA 92675
949-493-1502
info@sjcpres.org