corners of this
floating world, swept.
--Basho (1644-94, Japan)
Well, here we are, the last day of the year. In 2007, I was blessed with the birth of a grandson and heart-broken over the death of an old friend. As I reflect back over the year, I am reminded of those famous words from Ecclesiastes 3, To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die....
Looking back is a good thing but we shouldn't dwell on it. In Luke 9, Jesus told a would-be follower "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." The past is over and done with; we need to move on....with God as our guide.
Here's a poem that's appropriate for New Year's Eve:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied:
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way."
--Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957, England)
Anita Gardner Farrell
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