Become New

It's Daylight Saving, y'all. There's no 's' at the end.

My friend Ruthie, who is a font of wisdom as well as being an appreciative audience for my snark, said to me recently (regarding Lent, but it applies to oh-so-many things): "I love that the opportunity keeps coming around. ... I love that even if you've forgotten New Year's resolutions, you can start again."

You can start again.

The first time I ever went to summer camp (church camp),
this verse was our theme for the week. Thirty years later,
I remember only one other thing from that week: there
was a minor earthquake that rattled the cabin windows,
a thing I hadn't known was possible in Terre Haute,
Indiana. Maybe that's why this verse still has such sway
over my brain.

One of the great things about being on a spinning rock that's hurtling through space is that we have many, many chances to start again. Every 24 hours we get a new day. Every 7 days is a new week. Every 4-ish weeks is a new month. Every 12 months is a new year. And as if that weren't enough, we also have our seasons, our ways of marking time, our endings of one thing and beginnings of another. There's a reason why everyone likes to start a new diet or exercise program on Monday--we love the idea of a fresh slate. Anne Shirley is all of us when she says, “Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

Do yesterday's consequences still follow us into our new todays? Of course, and even though that can be unpleasant, thank goodness for it. You worked hard for that wisdom and insight, and to have to relearn it all again would really suck. But bringing old wisdom into a new day may be the best way to start again.

So I woke up this morning at what was 6 AM just yesterday, not at all ready to see what this season of daylight time will bring but really looking forward to a caffeinated beverage (two cups of English Breakfast, but I'm workin' on three). As I shuffled through my still-dark apartment, now that sunrise has been pushed back a bit, my brain went to the verse that is determined to be my personal theme song, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

We're going to be sleepy for a couple days, anyway, so there's no reason why Daylight Saving Time can't also be the start of something new. What will you do that's new today?