Skip to main content

See God’s Presence

Written by Aidee Boesen on . Posted in From our Pastor:.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! May you all have a Christmas Season full of light, life, and joy!

The new calendar year has begun and that makes some people happy and some others nervous. For some people the new calendar year brings hope for change, improvement, completing resolutions, and becoming happier and healthier people. They are optimistic as they remember their past experiences.

For others, their resolutions for improvement bring anxiety as they already have a tendency toward pessimism, fear of failure, and fear of not meeting expectations. The new calendar year brings pressure, stress, and doubt.

Of course, we may want to look at both types of persons and invite them to not forget their faith in God, their confidence in the accompaniment of Jesus, and the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The experiences of the past do not necessarily indicate the course of the future. Both those who think positively and optimistically, and those who tend toward the negative, have reason to look at the new year with new eyes and hearts.

The optimistic ones can strengthen their optimism by affirming their belief that there is nothing that will happen in their lives that they and God cannot handle together. This is faith! We can build on faith. Faith does not mean that a person will not experience pain, failure, or tragedy. Rather, faith in God helps us to see that no matter what happens in life that we can live, press forward, forgive, learn, and make the most out of our difficult circumstances.

The pessimistic ones know that life can be hard, and they can fortify their faith by trusting that God-iswith-us (Emmanuel), and that God never abandons us. Even with caution and care, as we face difficult challenges, confront the demands of attempting to meet high goals, and as we endure the hardship of misfortune, error, and poor planning, we must remember in faith that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God! (See Romans 8:31-39, especially 38-39)

May our lives, whether we are characteristically optimistic or pessimistic, be renewed by the Spirit of Christmas, Epiphany and the New Year so that WE MAY BE the illumination by which others come to see God’s presence in their lives. Both those who “hope” and those who “doubt” have reason to believe and give witness to God’s presence in the world. May we be successful in showing God’s love to others!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Peace, Fr. Andy