Well, we finally made it. We are officially on the other side of the weird time of year between Christmas and New Years and let’s be honest it’s a bit disorienting. As I write this it is currently Thursday, but it very much feels like a Monday. I woke up extra tired, had to open my work email for the first time in a while, and I swear the clock is moving slower than normal. That doesn’t stop tomorrow from being Friday though. Tomorrow is the start of the weekend. Many of us (not me) will go in to work and at clock at time be able to relax and recover from a long(?) week on the job. The time between Christmas and New Years can be wacky. I think that’s why people compare it to “airport time” so often. See someone drinking at 10am? Why not! Maybe they just got off an international flight and their body thinks it’s 5pm. In your PJ’s at 3pm? Of Course! So much easier to get through TSA that way. The days of the week blend together and everyone kind of becomes disoriented to what day and time it is. So, we spend this first day or two back struggling to re-orient to what is “normal” and “right”. The re-orientation is hard but ultimately worth it as we slide into our (mostly) comfortable routines and rhythms.
It’s also a time of year when many of us being our new resolutions. We hope to eat healthier, read more, or pick up a new hobby. Sadly, polling shows most of us won’t even make it into a month with our new goals before failing or giving up. As someone who has never been good at keeping resolutions I wonder sometimes if it’s cause I’m setting myself up for failure. Like If I want to start learning Spanish but then I miss a few days of Duolingo or don’t feel any progress then well I’m not learning am I, and I might as well give up? It seems like so many resolutions are set up that way. In a modified Pass/Fail system and once you’ve messed up once well then you’ve failed so there isn’t a point in trying to get to a “pass” you’ll never be able to achieve.
I think maybe reframing resolutions to model this time of year where we are coming out of “airport time” might be helpful. Instead of thinking of or setting up our resolutions as pass fail, we set them up as disorientations and reorientations. Because you can always reorient yourself if you become disoriented. It will be hard and yes sometimes Thursday will feel like Monday and 9 am will feel way to early but that isn’t failure at least. Instead of a goal to drink less it could be to reorient your relationship with alcohol, or instead of eating healthier or reading more it’s reorienting the way you feed your body.
This all reminds me a bit of the concept of Sin and Repentance. In ancient Greek the word usually translated as Sin is “hamartia” which sometimes might be better translated as “to miss the mark”, and Repentance is “hamartia” or translated differently “a change direction/change your mind”. In this way sin isn’t failure as we talk it up to be sometimes but rather missing our target, erring or maybe even becoming disoriented. Likewise Repentance isn’t just asking for forgiveness or paying our penance but rather turning back to where we are meant to be going, like reorientation. Now what we orient ourselves to is a bigger discussion, but I think starting by shooting for a place of love, mercy, grace and forgiveness for ourselves and others isn’t a bad place to start. So I pray as we begin a new year and a new orientation that you might have the strength to reorient any time things fall apart this year.
Peace,
Pastor Corey
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