On the turning of the year…

(Janus – the ancient Roman god of beginnings and transitions – who looks to the past and to the future)

As much as I dislike the ending of a year, I love the beginning of a new one. So January is always a month that I enjoy. I love new year for its unrealised possibilities and beckoning adventures – the thought that something exciting is surely about to happen. I generally make resolutions of some kind, although these have been the same for (ahem) about 10 years or so. Over the year my resolutions have evolved a bit from “I will run a marathon” to “I will try to go for a regular jog”, and I think that this theme of good habit-making (as opposed to overly-optimistic goals) is continuing this year. I read this article by Oliver Burkeman in which he argues that we should all just do the 3 following things: meditate, stop doing some of the things we are doing (in relation to the responsibilities and roles that we carry, not just in general) and cut ourselves some slack. I like those three. I’ve also been reading a bit of Leo Babauta’s ridiculously popular blog where he talks about trying to cultivate one good habit at a time. I like the idea, but its not for the impatient.

At church on Sunday I was getting us to think about seasons and the different seasons that might be going on in each of our lives. We read from Ecclesiastes 3, and thought about the times that we might be in, or that we might be approaching. Or might even desire to be in.  For me it is a season of new things: two new roles with exciting organisations, and one continuing role in a church that always keeps me asking questions. It is a season of more work for me and less work for P, as we share the caring for our children a bit differently. It is exciting, scary and exhilarating. Above all these things though: changing jobs, hopes and expectations for the coming year, is a particular practice that I am trying to nurture… that in each moment there is the possibility of connecting with the Holy. That it is not only in the Big Adventures or Things That I Will Do this year that I will find God, it is in the ordinary moments of my ordinary day that I can seek and find the One who is Present. As Sarah Bessey tweeted the other day: “our very regular right-now lives can be most beautiful and daily altars for meeting with God.”