Vicar's Letter February/March 2004 - Hoping for something better

With best wishes for 2004

New Year is a time of optimism.  The twelve months since we did it all last time have become clogged up with the misfortunes of life; we hope that the Hogmanay festivities will wash away the miseries of the passing year.  Whilst, for some, the celebrations may ease the discomfit and even erase the memory for a while, soon enough we realise that nothing much has changed.

We all survey our lives and wish that some things were other and better than they are; but the reality is that the passage of time will not often be sufficient to see our dreams realised.  Of course, the sharpness of grief and other bitter experiences can fade and usually does, but in terms of changing those situations of our routine, the inertia of forlorn hope achieves nothing.

In some cases we have to accept our lot, but there are usually at least some aspects of our lives that we could alter if we put our minds and efforts to such an enterprise.  The question is whether, for all our moaning and self-pity, we have a sufficient desire to make the adjustment.

Which often brings us to a problem.  Our lives are not a loose federation of discrete units.  The various strands of our situations are interwoven and so closely is the case that to alter one aspect means modifying lots of others; it may well be that in moving on from some depressing feature of our lives, we must also abandon some of the features that make us happy.

We find, then, that we have a dilemma.  Are we sufficiently unhappy with something that its removal is worth the abandonment of the connected creature comforts and pleasures; or, on the other hand, is it a price worth paying for the enjoyment of those same amusements and delights?

There is a parallel here with the way we choose our friends.  Probably, most the people we know have irritating traits.  For some, these are small beer in comparison to the enhancement that their positive characteristics bring to our lives.  Others, however, although they have some appealing qualities, are not overall the types of folks with whom we wish to spend time or in whom we would place our trust.

Choices like this are never easy.  In the adult world, few situations are clear-cut.  Janus, the Roman god of New Year (after whom January is named) has two faces that look in opposite directions – one towards the passing year and one towards the new.  Equally, his image represents the quandary in which we so often find ourselves as competing considerations try to pull us in different directions.

If we really want things to change, if we desire a transformation of our lives then some vague trust in the beneficence of fate will be no ally.  We shall have to make the decision to go out and try and make it happen.  In so doing, we shall have to make hard choices and be prepared to make sacrifices.

However, to opt for the status quo is also a risk.  Nothing remains static; whatever our present situation, this is just an ephemeral predicament; we are set on an ever moving path with inevitable consequences if we choose just to let things take their course.  The familiar may feel safe, but the shallows can be as treacherous as the deep sea. 

It behoves people to make the most of the opportunities that life places within their grasp.  Sometimes that will entail a decision to sit tight and build on what we presently have, at other times it will require a determination to make sacrifices for a greater good. 

In wishing all those for whom I have a care peace and prosperity in 2004, I wish for them also the wisdom and courage to make the right decisions.

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