A new year is often symbolized as a baby, typically pictured in a diaper and pacifier. The year about to end is pictured as a bearded old man walking with a cane getting ready to hand the sand dial to the baby.
I couldn’t help but think of this image on New Year’s Eve, holding my new granddaughter, who is called Evie for short. She was born December 17. She doesn’t do too much yet. Sleeps a lot. Eats. And other things.
She was placed in my arms because she didn’t like the device that rocked her. She apparently can tell the difference from real arms holding her. While I held her she woke up and began to look around. She can’t see but inches away but I could tell she made out twinkling tree lights in the distance, people moving about, and her brother zooming around us. She seemed to take it all in with amazement. And soon enough she started growing restless and belted out an impressive wail for such a small body. This meant she was hungry or needed to be changed, which either way had me looking for her mother!
So let me use my time with Evie to offer a few recommendations for the new year.
First, Take time to wonder. Like a child, take time occasionally to look around as if everything is new to you. Look at the people and events around you as wonders, not just ordinary encounters. When you see something unusual, take a moment to take it in, appreciate it, share it. Tomorrow is Epiphany, the day we remember the wise men’s arrival in Bethlehem. If the star they followed was significant enough to get their attention, why didn’t others see it? We can’t say, but maybe the wise men were simply wanderers. They spent their time wondering about the universe, pausing to consider what something might mean and pursuing it.=
Second, Welcome love. My granddaughter loves to be held. Every baby does. This gives security and comfort. It communicates love. We often jump to our responsibility to love others, but we don’t really outgrow our need to be loved. Perhaps we love better and more easily as we receive the love that is shown to us. Being attentive to the little acts of love others show us may be one of the best things we can do to make 2025 a great year.
Finally, Recognize the need for change. Evie does that really well. She can sound like a little siren when she needs a change. It's instinctive when we are uncomfortable that we do what we can to change the situation. So at what age do we stop doing this? When is it we grow comfortable not changing? A new year will hold the possibility of new things and be less of the same old-same old, as we sound the alarms when we know something needs to change. Perhaps we will need some help changing something. Maybe we‘ll have some work to do ourselves. But it will start with us recognizing the need for change.
God spoke through Isaiah the prophet and said, “I am making things new.” I love the present tense. Not “I will make,” or “I have made,” but I am making. God is changing things right now. But changing what? How? Why? To find the answers we will have to wonder, welcome and respond.