It seems that each year, as we turn the calendar from December 31st to January 1st, we think about what has been and what is to come...
What went well in the past year?
What went not-so-well?
What do you want to be different in the next year?
How do you want to be different in the next year?
I asked a question earlier today on my twitter account - (@pauldawson63) - that seems pretty simple on the surface, but that somehow feels bigger, deeper than the typical "So, what New Year's resolutions are you making?"
Here's the question:
"What plans, hopes, dreams do you have for 2013?"
Resolutions don't seem to last for most of us. They are like words written in the sand on an ocean beach. They last for a while and may even look really good. But, then, the tide comes in. They waves gently but steadily wash them away. Before we know it, the words we so boldly and plainly wrote for all to see are no more. Resolutions can be like that too.
But plans are much more concrete... there are details with them... objectives that can be reached, progress markers that can be checked off. Plans - especially our plans - need to be made humbly, though... remembering that we are not the final arbiter of the details of our lives.
James - the brother of Jesus - reminded us of this truth when he wrote "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit' — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'(James 4:13-15 ESV)
Hopes are deeper than resolutions too. Not the wishy-washy "Gee, wouldn't it be nice if..." sort of hope that is too often substituted for real, Biblical hope (see Romans 5:1-5), but hope that changes you. Hope that moves you. Hope that gives you courage, drive, and a bit of daring.
The New Testament book of Romans says it this way - "Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:24-25 ESV)
Hope is for what we admittedly cannot clearly see ahead of us. We live into it as if it will be as we've envisioned it. There is a huge piece of trust involved in this hope. The vision of that hope needs to be held with open hands... our hope may need to be re-directed from time to time to get us to our destination.
Then there are the dreams we have for the New Year. Dreams... the ideal outcome(s) we picture for ourselves. Dreams... the way we want life to be. Dreams... the things that inspire us and push us to hope and to plan.
What are your plans, hopes, dreams for 2013?
Make them... work toward them... celebrate them... on the Potter's Wheel.
What went well in the past year?
What went not-so-well?
What do you want to be different in the next year?
How do you want to be different in the next year?
I asked a question earlier today on my twitter account - (@pauldawson63) - that seems pretty simple on the surface, but that somehow feels bigger, deeper than the typical "So, what New Year's resolutions are you making?"
Here's the question:
"What plans, hopes, dreams do you have for 2013?"
Resolutions don't seem to last for most of us. They are like words written in the sand on an ocean beach. They last for a while and may even look really good. But, then, the tide comes in. They waves gently but steadily wash them away. Before we know it, the words we so boldly and plainly wrote for all to see are no more. Resolutions can be like that too.
But plans are much more concrete... there are details with them... objectives that can be reached, progress markers that can be checked off. Plans - especially our plans - need to be made humbly, though... remembering that we are not the final arbiter of the details of our lives.
James - the brother of Jesus - reminded us of this truth when he wrote "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit' — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'(James 4:13-15 ESV)
Hopes are deeper than resolutions too. Not the wishy-washy "Gee, wouldn't it be nice if..." sort of hope that is too often substituted for real, Biblical hope (see Romans 5:1-5), but hope that changes you. Hope that moves you. Hope that gives you courage, drive, and a bit of daring.
The New Testament book of Romans says it this way - "Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:24-25 ESV)
Hope is for what we admittedly cannot clearly see ahead of us. We live into it as if it will be as we've envisioned it. There is a huge piece of trust involved in this hope. The vision of that hope needs to be held with open hands... our hope may need to be re-directed from time to time to get us to our destination.
Then there are the dreams we have for the New Year. Dreams... the ideal outcome(s) we picture for ourselves. Dreams... the way we want life to be. Dreams... the things that inspire us and push us to hope and to plan.
What are your plans, hopes, dreams for 2013?
Make them... work toward them... celebrate them... on the Potter's Wheel.
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