In the Land of Beginning Again December 31, 2009
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Christian discipleship, Christian witness, Core Values, Mission of the Church, Religion in the U.S..Tags: Christian discipleship, Church Leadership, Mission & Purpose
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In the 1946 film, The Bell’s of St. Mary’s, Bing Crosby sings Grant Clarke & George W. Meyer’s, In the Land of Beginning Again. This sappy, wistful, wonderful song fits the film beautifully, wishing for the chance to start fresh, to let go of past regrets, and to move forward with our personal slate washed clean. It is as appropriate a New Year’s song as Auld Lang Syne. New Year’s is the natural time to “start over,” and literally millions of people worldwide use the New Year as a marker by which to make resolutions to act differently, think differently, work differently, relate differently, and feel differently. January 2 is traditionally the day most of these resolutions crash and burn.
Why? Why do our good intentions slide down the highway to hell, giving us more to feel guilty about? Well, the most obvious reason is that it is artificial, superficial, and insubstantial. Why would we think something would be easier to do on January 1 than on December 31? That’s like believing something will be simpler on Thursday that is too hard on Tuesday, or that bad habits will magically disappear if only we could move to a new location. It’s never that simple — we always take ourselves with us. Our bad habits and unpleasant characteristics are not external forces working on us, they are internal propensities that either we control or that control us. My eating too much cake is NEVER the cake’s fault. Drinking too much wine doesn’t happen because there is wine in the house. Honest change begins with accepting responsibility for one’s thoughts and actions. Anything else is disingenuous and destined to fail. People do not change until they want to change — and there is a huge difference between “wishing” and “wanting.” Most people wish they could lose weight or stop smoking; they don’t want to because what they really “want” is the comfort and pleasure they receive from food or tobacco. Every substantive change happens through a simple process of values clarification — what is more important to me? Is the momentary satisfaction worth more than long-term benefits? Is what I can have now worth more than what I will receive later? Here’s the rub: people can’t actually conceive a future “might” when faced with a current certainty. Being thinner a year from now doesn’t hold the same drawing power as the “all-you-can-eat” breakfast buffet.
