Just another year.

The only thing you sometimes have control over is perspective. You don’t have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it. –Chris Pine


Many, many people of late have been bemoaning what a horrible year 2016 was, and how grateful they are that it’s over. So many deaths, from pop idols like George Michael and Prince; classical music icons like composer Pierre Boulez and conductor Neville Marriner; actors Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds—the list goes on and on. And then there was the U.S. election . . . and the aftermath. Yep. Quite a year.

But you know what else happened in 2016?

More than half the world has now declared the death penalty illegal. 

In Mumbai, volunteers cleaned up over 4000 tons of debris from their beaches. 

Denmark became the very first country to declare that transgender is not a mental illness. 

Caring citizens raised over one million dollars so the children of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling will be able to attend college. 

And while they didn’t drop, for the first time, carbon emissions from fossil fuels did not increase.

A lot of very good things happened in 2016. And I am absolutely certain even more good things lie ahead in 2017.

Pause for a moment and try to look through God’s eternal perspective. God weeps over injustices ever year; God desires, always, that we do better at caring for one another and all creation. But from God’s perspective, from beginning to end, I have no doubt God continues to proclaim: It is good. Life is good, because God is good.


Monday Focus your heart today on forgiveness. Who in your life have you struggled to forgive? Right now, extend grace to others (and yourself). Isaiah 49:1-3

Tuesday Do you know someone in the throes of grief? (Maybe it’s you.) Reach out and offer a phone call or note—and prayers. Psalm 40:1-11

Wednesday Spread a little joy today. Tell jokes (even if they’re really awful). Laughter really is the best medicine. Ecclesiastes 3:1-6

Thursday Tell someone—a cashier, a volunteer, a child—they are doing a great job. Watch their faces light up. Do it again! And give thanks. John 1:37-42

Friday Do something unexpected for someone you care about. Bring them a treat or offer to do a chore for them. Accept their thanks with grace. 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Saturday In your prayer time today, focus on one person who is feeling overwhelmed. (Maybe it’s you.) Ask God to comfort and soothe their troubled spirit. Psalm 72:1-7

Sunday Focus on being an extravagant giver today in all you do: sing with gusto, hug recklessly. Put an extra dollar in the plate, just because. Isaiah 60:1

From my perspective I absolutely believe in a greater spiritual power, far greater than I am, from which I have derived strength in moments of sadness or fear. That’s what I believe, and it was very, very strong in the forest. –Jane Goodall


(Thanks to Mary Luti and the United Church of Christ for the “good things. Sometimes the light seems pretty dim.)

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