Faith Matters 24: For The Gardner News, January 6, 2007
New Year’s Spiritual Resolutions
New Years is traditionally a time for resolutions. Here is my list of New Years resolutions to consider if you would like a deeper spiritual grounding in your life or a deeper relationship with God: (1) Ask God for help! Ask God for the deeper and closer relationship you desire. “Ask and you shall receive!” (2) Count your blessings. Thank God for all that you have been given in your life: the people you love and who love you, the world around you with all of its beauty, and all those who help you and help the world. Share your gratitude by saying “thank you” or by writing notes of appreciation to those who are important to you. Say grace before meals. (3) Find quiet time in your life to pray, meditate, or simply to sit with God. How can you have a meaningful relationship with someone you don’t ever spend time with! (4) Learn more about your faith tradition. Read the Bible, perhaps starting with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, found in the 5th through 7th chapters of the gospel of Matthew. Or, read the gospel of Luke from start to finish. Join a Bible study or a book group that reads and discusses spiritual books together. (5) Simplify your life in some way. We have too much clutter, too many things taking up space in our lives. Clean out your closets, your bookshelves and your basement. Discard or dispose of anything you haven’t used in the last year. (6) Give! Give away things that might be useful to others: clothing, books, household items. Give financially to support an agency or project that speaks to your particular values. (7) Volunteer! Share your time, your energies and your talents with those in need. (8) Find a faith community that nourishes your soul. Or, if you already have one, try worshipping in a new place and comparing the experience with your usual worship. (9) Find music that touches and feeds your soul, whether gospel, contemporary, rock, classical, or hymns. Play it and hum or sing along! (10) Practice forgiveness. Forgive someone you’ve been carrying a grudge against. Ask forgiveness from someone you have hurt. Make it a daily practice. (11) Find a spiritual director or a spiritual friend with whom to share your spiritual journey.
There is no magic to having the deep spiritual relationship so many of us crave. It comes from creating time and space and opportunities in our lives to open ourselves up to God. Try one or two of these suggested New Years resolutions for a few weeks or even a month and see what happens. Don’t try to be a “spiritual overachiever” especially if this is all new to you. But by all means, ask God for help. God wants a relationship with us even more than we want a relationship with God!