A Soliloquy of the New Year

As I open the door I am confronted with both the cold and the dark of the morning. Though technically morning has come, the sun has not yet risen. I drape a warm blanket over the chair so that the cold does not seep into my bones and wrapped in warmth, I sit and keep vigil. I am waiting for the dawning of not only a new day but a new year.

I sit with my soul awakened in the cold and dark of this day yet to be born. The darkness is a backdrop for my fears and failures. I shiver in the cold with heart and soul exposed. I am confronted with all that I am and all that I am not, but I am facing the east. I know that though for a little while I may sit in the darkness, soon a light will shine. I know that though now I can only see the blackness, the coming light will bring with it vision.

With the beginning of a new year I turn again to the beginning of God's word. "Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness."(Genesis 1:3,4) Turning my eyes to the eastern horizon I watch as the sun rises, bathing the world around me in its light. In the light of a new day I can begin to see the outline of the trees where only moments before all around me was darkness. Not only will the world around me be bathed in light as the sun begins to dominate the sky, but it will also be bathed in color.

Suddenly, I can no longer look in the direction of the rising sun with my eyes open. I close my eyes but I can still feel the warmth of the sun on my eyelids. The light of the sun penetrates my waiting soul with its healing rays. I sit in silence bringing all my inadequacy to the Sun of Righteousness who rises with healing in his wings. The God of hope replaces the darkness of fear and failures with joy and peace.

I face a new day and a new year with the truth that, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."(John 1:5) With this advent of a new day and a new year I wait with expectation of yet another advent that has been promised. The light of the world promised, "Behold I am coming soon." (Revelation 22:7) And so though days may be filled with darkness, I will keep my vigil with my eyes on the eastern horizon.