Being the first blog of the New Year, I was thinking about going with what my favourite 6 year old, comic strip philosopher, Calvin, had to say about the New Year, after ranting that everything was the same as the old year. "There's still pollution and war and stupidity and greed!... I thought the future was supposed to be better!" he cries out. To which Hobbes, the boy's wise tiger companion, replies, "The problem with the future is that it keeps turning into the present."

But I am equally tempted by the words of a new (to me) philosopher on the comic strip beat, 10 or 11 year old Agnes, who has very low expectations, herself, about the New Year. "Very few of my New Years make it to last year without incident."

It is very hard to get though a whole year, all 365 days of it, "without incident." Stuff just happens!  Life gets out of whack or takes an unexpected turn or throws you a knuckleball. Our best resolutions hit  a brick wall. Before you know it, the future looks a lot like the present or maybe, even the past.

The secular belief in good and infinite human progress leaves a lot to be desired. I certainly enjoy and benefit from the  achievements of medicine, technology, knowledge, etc. The world is a much better place than we sometimes give it credit. But it is far from perfect, too.

Biblically, the future is God's fresh canvas upon which God is re-creating and  re-designing his vision for "new heavens and a new earth." It is really hard to imagine such a future - no more death, no more tears, no more crying and pain. Sounds good to me!

But first, we have a lot of "present" to get through. This means we need to toughen our resolve of faithfulness, love, righteousness, hope and confidence in God.  In the New Year and then all Year we need to practice out faith in good works, good words, and season the times with a little salt of prayer and worship.

The year ahead will not likely be "without incident" but I hope and pray that God will gift you with stamina, the strength, the resolve, the courage, the confidence, the patience to endure, "so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand," (Ephesians 6;13).

Dale