Making resolutions?

T'is the last day of 2012. Time to look back through the journal to see what progress or what weaknesses lie exposed. Do you review the year as I do?

I started the year exhausted, working 10-14 hours, 6 days a week, on my dissertation. Once that was done, I partied. I've never celebrated as joyfully as this year - the dragon was slain, the un-doable done.

Then I rested. My journal shows a lack of momentum for months afterwards. I was so mentally drained that it was hard to focus. So I did very little. I puttered. I played piano. I painted a bit. I read a lot of nonsense and light fiction. I watched Korean dramas and followed Spy and Arrow on Hulu+

In November things started to heat up again. "Take up your bed and walk already!" was the message I heard during devotions. I started Monvee (from "mon vie," a spiritual discipleship program hosted by our church) and began to read enriching books. Someone added me as their accountability partner and a friend coached me through some sessions of a "Get Unstuck Bootcamp." (Click here for the website.) I added some exercise classes.

And suddenly I was in motion again. Thank God!

My 2013 resolutions are intended to foster spiritual life, better physical health, strong relationships, and mental vigor. Real Simple says we need 4 tips to keep our resolutions (click here for the full article):
1. be specific
2. make goals public
3. substitute "good" behaviors for "bad"
4. keep track

I don't have any earthshaking goals. It seems that keeping the ones I always choose is hard work enough:

• read more scripture
• pray and wait in expectation
• be more grateful
• read and write
• do art
• be hospitable
• and work hard at whatever is at hand

What is your most desired resolution for 2013? Why?

Read more:
*Some wandered in the wilderness lost and homeless. Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. 'LORD, help!' they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.

Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things" Psalm 107:4–9

*My eyes fail with watching for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” Psalm 119:82

*Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Proverbs 3:27

*Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. James 1:22  

*May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Moravian Prayer: God of endings and beginnings, may we bring glory tonight as we close this year and begin another. May our faith in your promise remain strong as you breathe your spirit upon us.

Gracious and giving Savior, forgive us when we withhold our power. Forgive us when we act on the behalf of a brother or a sister. Let us be fed by worship this day and go out to be your hands and feet. Amen.

Not so fast

I thought today was Ash Wednesday. My body needs a rest from all the rich food we've been eating, and Lent is a good time to combine mental and physical health with spiritual disciplines. Since Lent fell on Feb. 17 last year, I figured today was the day for this year. Nope, we have 3 weeks to go until the memorial days begin.

As a Protestant, I didn't grow up with Lenten observances. Our church fasted Good Friday with a special service in the morning and evening. I seem to remember most of them being rainy and blustery, appropriately yucky weather for the darkness of the remembrance. Easter, which was nearly always sunny, started with a Sunrise Service at the local cemetery and progressed through several church services into the evening.

But no Lent. When I studied for my Masters degree, I prayed Catholic and Orthodox prayers for a season, familiarizing myself with other Christian practices. I reveled in the richness and beauty as the Spirit breathed into the old traditions!

Lent came alive that year as I accepted a new discipline of daily Lenten writing. As I read through the scriptures, I posted observations to an initial list of 150 people (before blogging was popular). The list grew into my blog, first on a now-defunct site, then at xanga, now at www.peacefulones.blogspot.com.

Some years I love writing, some years I dread the merciless demand of each new morning at the computer keyboard. As I read through those years, I marvel at God's faithfulness in opening scripture and allowing spiritual disciplines to shape my life. (Though today I'm glad I don't have to begin fasting nor daily writing because of a three-week reprieve.) 

I'm looking forward to meeting God again within the special attention that Lent offers, starting March 9 this year. I need the solitude, meditation, and examination more than ever, after the challenges of the past year. How about you? 

Read more:

*O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. Isaiah 33:2 NIV

*I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.  Let him bury his face in the dust—there may yet be hope.  Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.  Lamentations 3:19-32 NIV

*Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 NIV