Well, here we are in the Year of our Lord, 2024.
As I write this blog, the old year (2023) is not quite done, but I have already determined I will not stay up to see the ball drop at the stroke of midnight in New York City’s Time Square. I will be much more interested in a good night’s sleep.
Besides, I determined a long time ago there is nothing magical about the coming of midnight at year’s end (or year’s beginning.)
As the sages once said, “Time marches on, waits for no one, and will tell.”
Much is ushered in with the coming of a new year – hope mingled with apprehension. What will the new year bring? Will life on our planet be better in 2024? Will moral decline continue? Will war continue to escalate in Israel and Ukraine? Will our federal government finally get its act together? Who, in heaven’s name, will be our next president? Will climate change continue to work against us? Will artificial intelligence gain more control over our lives? Big questions.
And to the big questions there are no easy answers – if any answers at all. As John Powell wrote, “New rhythms, no rhyme.”
And, yet, with all that is wrong with the world, hope springs eternal. It is easy to get caught up in all over which we, as individuals have little, or no control. Speaking of control, I learned very quickly when we were attempting to raise our three boys, that “control” is an illusion.
I often recall a quote I saw on a bulletin board in a livestock market many years ago – “Stormy weather is sent our way from time to time to let us know we aren’t in control of anything!”
The words of the Serenity Pray come to mind:
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
So, as we go into 2024, what are some of the things we can change (or things over which we have some control?)
I think I’ll start with me. I promise you, I’ve tried changing other people. I haven’t had much luck.
Business motivational speaker Jim Rohm once said, “I put together a staff a few years ago, and said to myself, ‘I’m going to make these people great if it kills me.’ I almost died!”
I’m going to work on my attitude in 2024. I am especially going to work on how I start each day. David Hartman, who once hosted the morning show, Good Morning, America, would close the show with the challenge, “Go out and make it a great day!” I have found more great days are made than found.
Many years ago, I was speaking for an electrical cooperative in LA (lower Alabama.) I told of how my grandmother purchased flour in 10 lb. sacks made of cloth, and of how she patterned shirts for me out of “sack cloth.” I further told of how, sometimes, the flour sacks would come with colorful hand towels sewn in the top of the sack as a promotion.
When the speech was over, two petite, black women (one young, one old) approached me and had nice things to say. “We remember those hand towels sewn in the flours sacks,” the younger one said. “We looked forward to getting’ ‘em!”
The older woman, referring back to the comments I had made on attitude that day, offered, “Our preacher says, ‘Before you meet the day, you should meet with the Master.’”
I was reminded of the words of an old spiritual. “It’s not my mother nor my father, nor my brother nor my sister. It’s me, O’ Lord, standin’ in the need of prayer.”
Blessings on you in 2024.
Copyright 2023 by Jack McCall
