The new Year arrives full of hope and promise. Like the birth of a baby it comes to us as a gift from God. We commit the past, with all its pain and failure to his mercy and look forward to celebrating his presence anew in the time given to us. “I always begin the New Year by singing the Te Deum,” one woman says. This hymn of praise soars to the heavens with gratitude and hope. After extolling the glory and majesty of God in heaven and on earth the last verse is an act of unshakeable faith: ‘In you alone I trust, I will not be disappointed.’
It takes courage to say this and really mean it. Left to ourselves we can all too easily sink into a mood of numbing disappointment as we reflect on the failures in our lives, society and in the Church. “It’s like being caught in a heavy fog,” one man said. “You can’t see your hand in front of you and you are full of fear, not knowing which way to turn.” A deadening sense of betrayal by what was held dear renders one helpless like a motorless boat in the open sea. It seems like the ultimate mockery to say, “I will not be disappointed.”
When David faced the giant Goliath, he divested himself of armour and with only a sling and a stone (1 Sam 17) overcame the fearful enemy. The whole army of Israel was terrified of the invincible Philistine who would surely lay them to waste. Only David, young and full of faith in the God of Israel, was ready to take him on. With just one well-aimed shot from his sling he felled the mighty warrior.
The Goliaths we face may not stand ‘six cubit and one span tall,’ but they are no less real. They war against us not with spear or sword but with arrows of discouragement and despair.
“What’s the use?” we say and resign ourselves to a kind of half-life. But we can learn from David to throw off our protective armour, travel light and enter into the battlefield with courage and above all with trust in God. His power in us is greater than any difficulty we will meet, his word a light to guide us through the densest fog.
What will we do? Will we cower before the enemy or will we move out and do battle against the fears that cripple us? Will we, at the start of this New Year, have life, and have it to the full (Jn 10:10)? Will we believe that the Holy Spirit is in us, longing to shower his gifts on us if we but let him? He, the spirit of Truth will help us to become our true selves and live wholeheartedly with the freedom of spirit that comes from God.
This New Year is full of promise, full of hope. Go for it!
Sister Redempta Twomey is a Columban Sister living in Ireland.