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Education Ministry

Posted on December 30, 2003 ...

To be able to look backward and say, “This, this has been the greatest year of my life” – that is glorious! But anticipation! To be able to look ahead and say, “The present year can and shall be better!” – that is more glorious!
– Frank Laubach (January 3, 1930).

For many, the beginning of a new year is a time of reflection and a re-orienting of one’s life. Goals are set, resolutions are written, and a promise is made that this year will be better. Most (maybe all) have experienced the let-down that comes when goals are left unmet, resolutions are broken, and the new year turns out to be no different from the last. In years past, I have sought to avoid the Post-New Year let-down by resolving never to make another New Year’s resolution – no goals and no promises. Still, I cannot get away from the thought that perhaps God intends for such a time as this to get my attention; to make a course correction or bring greater clarity to my journey. I am in a quandary: Should I make a resolution I know will most likely be broken? Or should I stick to my guns and make no resolution at all? I concede that either way is a resignation that I shall make no progress at all; and the opportunity of another new year will be left untaken.

But what if there were a third option – a resolution that I could and would keep? Not the kind that would deprive myself of a favorite indulgence or commit myself to a particular aversion, but such a resolution that I would actually want to keep. What if I could articulate a resolution consistent with a path upon which the Lord has already been leading me – a resolution for which I have been prepared? Would I be more likely to keep this kind of resolution than one scribbled in haste at midnight on December 31?

Encouraged by this new line of reasoning, I have set out to enter into an experiment proposed by the missionary Frank Laubach. Taken from the same letter as the above quote are these words: “I resolve that I would succeed better this year with my experiment of filling every minute full of the thought of God than I succeeded last year. And I added another resolve – to be as wide open toward people and their need as I am toward God.” Such an experiment, I realize, is of monumental proportions. Yet as I meditate upon it, I find it is really no different than what our Lord has commanded from the beginning: That we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; and our neighbor as ourselves. And this is the very path upon which He has been leading me these last several months.

I share this resolution for 2004 with you for two reasons. First, I hope to be encouraged by your prayers and held accountable by your knowledge of it. And second, I hope that some of you will be lead to enter into this same experiment. Together, may we have a “glorious” 2004.