A year, a complete rotation of the earth around the sun, is a marker in the march of time through the ages toward eternity. For me, having a January 3rd birthday, the end of the calendar year is also a mark of another year of life.
This morning, my six-year-old son Danny said, “I see that your beard and your hair are the same color.” I replied, “Good job, Danny. Our hair usually matches all over our body. What color is my hair?” He said, “Brownish-blackish.” Then he paused, as if to give it closer inspection, and said, “Your beard has these white hairs on it.”
We try to get rid of our wrinkles with creams or cosmetic procedures. We cover our gray with coloring techniques. But nothing successfully delays the inevitable. We get older. So yes, while a new year is a reminder that we are getting older, it is also a time to renew our commitment to truly live life, to become more engaged with the beauty all around us and enchanted by God’s love.
I help lead worship at our church. As we sing, my friend Dani walks back and forth behind all the pews at the end, often with a smile on his face. Dani, originally from Syria, has a philosophical bent. I asked him the other day, “Why do you walk back and forth and smile?” He replied, “If I was deaf, would I give a million dollars to hear again? I would. So here I am, enjoying the music and the worship that is worth a million dollars.”
A new year offers us the chance to enjoy the multi-million dollar experiences of life.
- Enjoy the million-dollar hug of your kid, something a person without arms would pay to experience.
- Enjoy the million-dollar moments of solitude with the Lord, something a spiritually empty person would pay for.
- Enjoy the million-dollar view of a sunrise, something a blind person would pay to see.
- Enjoy the million-dollar smile of a friend, something a lonely person would pay to behold.
As the new year begins, let’s commit to truly living, truly enjoying a million-dollar life!
