Wide Open

 

As I passed the neighborhood park on this cold, clear, bright blue morning, I found something unusual - an almost empty park. I know it was early. I know it was cold. But it is rare to find our neighborhood feeling, or looking, so desolate.

But I also feel that this scene was a good image of the new year. Wide open. Uncluttered. Fresh and clean. Filled with a sense of expectation. As I paused and looked out across the park, I could see in my imagination the children running and playing, carefree and laughing without restraint. I could see families, multiple generations, having picnics and taking pictures, flying kites and learning how to ride bicycles without the training wheels. In my imagination I caught a glimpse of a truly “happy” new year.

This year can begin like this park on this cold morning. Our futures really are wide open. Our lives are yet to be cluttered with too many bad decisions or too many things we can do well without in these first days of 2021. Our hearts really can start the year fresh and clean. We can be motivated by a sense of expectation that frees us from the past and opens us to the great possibilities of the future.

Ephesians tells us to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” These are the days to put on the new; new attitudes, new hope, new expectations and a new self. Why would we hesitate? Why would we pass? This is a time of new beginnings. It can be a time for a new me.

Peace.