Comings and Goings

Janus, from whom January gets its name, was the Roman god of comings and goings.  He had two faces, one that looked forward and the other back, and often his image would be found at a doorway.   It’s fitting at the turning of the year to look both ways, reflecting upon what has gone before and looking ahead to what is to come.

Didn’t we have a long lingering autumn?  I believe those beautiful leaf colours are due to the timing of wet and dry periods during the course of the year.  But the gales of the last week or two have finally removed the last of them, and all we see now is the bare branches.  As you look at those tree skeletons, share some reflections with me.

Those branches are the framework of the tree.   When the new leaves grow next spring, we shall see once more the trees with which we are familiar.  Their shape will be the same as it was in last summer’s photos, obscuring the same bits of the street scene, just as ever was.  It will look the same, fulfil exactly the same function, even though every one of those leaves will be new.

Isn’t life like that?  Our pattern of life next year will closely resemble that of last year, with the same family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues.  We’ll go to the same clubs and society meetings, enjoy the same hobbies and interests; life will carry on in the same general shape as always.

The New Year will have brought some changes, though, just as a close examination of those trees outside will reveal the growth of new twigs and the loss of the odd branch here and there.  People move in and out of the area, take up new challenges and adjust their activities accordingly.  Someone at work may have retired and have been replaced; perhaps a dear friend has died and is sadly missed.

There will be changes within us, too.  We will, inevitably, have a different outlook on 2014 from that which we had on 2013.  Our attitudes will still be based on our individual history and our reflections upon it, but they will have been adapted by the experiences of the last year, as these have become integrated into our personality.  Changes in our lives might be caused by, but can also make us more able to deal with, changes in the world around us.

Some churches have special services for the New Year, encouraging their members to invite God afresh into their lives and helping them to commit themselves anew in His service.  If you have been touched in a new way during the recent Christmas season, let me encourage you to pray these words as you enter a new year in a new relationship with God.  They come from the Covenant Prayer of the Methodist Church.

Let me be full,

Let me be empty,
Let me have all things,
Let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal,
Glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.