By Virginia Vollmer, OFS
The year 2023 is still fairly new, by November it will be fairly over. We begin each New Year with hope for a different year; with resolutions hoping for change. The days and weeks suddenly seem to be the same as the previous year. The winter months drag into Spring time. For children, summer vacation cannot arrive soon enough. An eight-hour work day looms over every Sunday evening. Perhaps an entire year is too far into the future, whether we are procrastinators or dreamers. We planned too much too soon, and all at once. The hopes and resolutions of the New Year are no longer new and maybe forgotten. What were we thinking?
What if, instead of a New Year, we plan for one New Day? Make one resolution for just one sunrise to sunset, only twenty-four hours. Try on a resolution to see how it fits. If it works, try it for the next New Day or the New Day after that one. Sometimes all we need is to look at something in a new way.
We can start simple: after saying grace, gaze at the food upon the plate, notice the colors and textures, the variety of food. God does provide.
Do you walk around the block clockwise? Try walking counter clockwise or on the opposite side of the street. Does the neighborhood landscape change- the trees or flowers or yard art? God sees it too.
Switch places at the dinner table- how does your view out the window shift? Do you have a different perspective of the room? Perhaps that picture or pillow might enhance the room if it is moved three inches? God is welcoming.
Familiarity is comforting, but what to do about it when it’s a New Day? When it’s a Sunday kind of New Day? It is easy to sit in the same pew week after week- the familiarity of the people around us. It’s comforting to see them each week. For one New Day Sunday, maybe just shift one pew in front or behind, or from the right side to the left side of the church. Who do you see around you? Do you see different statuary? How do the colors of the St Elizabeth Seton or crucifix paintings shift? God smiles.
A New Day, just small resolutions each day from sunrise to sunset. God creates anew each day and has said from the beginning of time, “it is good”.
