New Year, New Hope

I have hope for this new year, 2024. I feel it welling up inside. It's not a hope anyone has given me. It's not for the upcoming election, or wars that come and go. It feels distant, but real. I pray each day with gratitude for the new day, because this is His. All of it. There's nothing I can do to fix anything, even myself. God can. He can fix it all. My goal is to be part of the that, His work. An imperfect instrument made whole in His hands. 

What can I do? Little things are left to me. The smiles and hellos to neighbors and strangers. The encouragement I can bring when all is dark and hopeless. 

"The light shines in the dark, and the darkness cannot overcome it," John 1, Vs 5.  

I think back to the days of Jesus, when there was so much darkness, even the Jewish leaders had fallen into selfishness and greed. Jesus came not to conquer the government, or the world, but to conquer the heart of man. This love and sacrifice worked for centuries, spreading and growing, creating a better life for all with orphanages for abandoned children, hospitals for the sick, schools to share knowledge and the command to love your neighbor as yourself and spread civilization worldwide. Here we are with this knowledge and hope, but the world is once again growing darker. The churches themselves are more focused on pleasing man than God. But the light, the light never goes out. It can only grown stronger as the world grows darker. That is my hope.