Hello 2019

January 6, 2019

Awaken ancient forms and play within them,

Sift gold amidst the wreckage of your slumber;

Renew your passions, maybe Pinterest pin them,

Tell that one toxic friend, “Yo, lose my number.”

The day is clear, a new year is aborning;

And so are you, perpet’ually. Gmorning.

Find words for all your daily joys & terrors.

Gnight; make work that gets us in our feelings.

Send off to bed your doubt, your shame, your errors;

Break curfew with your muses, shatter ceilings.

The year is fresh; wipe clean inertia’s mildew.

Grateful for all you do, & all you will do.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Gmorning, Gnight! Little pep talks for me & you

The start of a new year usually brings hope – the promise of new beginnings to start fresh; to dust off the cobwebs of unfulfilled resolutions from the previous year. At least, that’s what it has meant for me. With the lone exception of 2017, I have entered each New Year with anticipation and excitement for the “newness” of impending opportunities.

Although some events have robbed me of the unfiltered optimism I once had, there are people who have rescued my hurting heart and restored my faith in humanity. They are the ones who remind me that perseverance is worth the effort.

There are several moments during the past few weeks that have given me inspiration, including reading Gmorning, Gnight: little pep talks for me & you by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a gift from my dear friend, Mary Ann. Expect to see several quotes from that book in future blogs!

I’ve also been inspired by the writings of family and friends. I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing this, but the following social media post from my niece, McKenna, filled me with pride.

“For me, 2019 is going to be about being better. Being a better human, a better friend, a better sister, a better daughter, a better leader, a better writer (by actually writing) and being the best aunt to the little girl who makes my eyes flood with the happiest tears every time I think about her (and she's not even here yet!) I want to be a better person most importantly for myself but also for the incredible people in my life. Roll your eyes if you want to, but here's to another year of life, here's to 2019.”

Not long after I saw McKenna’s post, I received the annual holiday letters from my friend, Anara, and her husband, Dave. Both are gifted writers, and I look forward to their letters each year. Anara’s letter this year is a reminder to me that better times have prevailed in the past when the present reality has been cruel and dark.

“The glow of menorah candles, growing more numerous and brighter each evening, remind us of miracles, as does the gleam of a single star that guided travelers through the night.

The need for illumination seems a fitting metaphor for our times—so many of us are burdened by darkness.

A fetid stench festers within our democracy, and the putrid miasma of hate makes us ill. Gloom pervades the daily news and taints us, like ink spilling across our desks, staining all that it touches.

As Petrarch wrote, "My fate is to live among varied and confusing storms. But for you perhaps, if as I hope and wish you will live long after me, there will follow a better age. When the darkness has been dispersed, our descendants can come again in the former pure radiance."

I take comfort in knowing that the Dark Ages did not last;
they gave way to the Renaissance... and then, to the Age of Enlightenment.”

I’m also finding hope in some unlikely sources. I recently read an opinion piece from Mark Wingfield, an associate pastor at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas. When I shared the article with my friend, Debi, her comment was “You are reading something by a Baptist???” Debi knows my disappointing history with the Baptist church (see my October 14, 2018 post, A Tale of Two Churches). Her surprise at my reading the article is legitimate. A year ago, I probably would not have opened a link from Baptist News.com because of my own bias. While reading Pastor Wingfield’s words made me feel hopeful, it was also a reminder to me that I need to spend more time listening and learning from those whom I have had disagreements with in the past. The first paragraph of the article appears below. The entire article is available at https://baptistnews.com/article/3-words-for-the-church-in-2019-we-were-wrong/#.XC_dmC2ZOgQ

As we look toward new year’s resolutions, my hope is that the Christian church might be able to utter just three simple words in 2019. These are words that would change the course of history, foster civil dialogue and perhaps even bring skeptics back into the church. But they are hard words to say: “We were wrong.”

Finally, a grace-filled conversation I had with my daughter’s friend, Blake during the holidays warmed my heart and left me feeling encouraged. I was telling Blake about the compassion I feel for the church I attend. He, too, has had a disappointing experience and is skeptical of organized religion, yet he listened to me without judgment. When I had finished, with warmth in his voice, he said, “That’s really nice, Shelli. It sounds like you have found a church that makes you feel comfortable and welcome. I’m happy for you.” I’m glad to have Blake back in my life.

To quote McKenna, “roll your eyes if you want,” but it’s these reasons and more that I can look at the year ahead with hope and optimism. And, it because of that little girl that “floods McKenna’s eyes (and mine) with happy tears” that I have the energy and will to create a better, more just world for all.