The space between Christmas and New Year has always been a challenge for me. Life in this strange, liminal space feels complicated.
On the one hand, we are in the season of Christmastide, but on the other, we are ushering in a New Year filled with possibilities, new beginnings, and the opportunity to reset. We look back on the year gone by with gratitude and even regret and perhaps vow to make better choices.
I struggle with the desire and deep-rooted need to slow down and make space to contemplate while being surrounded by loved ones and creating memories. My soul vacillates between the desire for community and the desperate longing for quiet.
As humans, we are created to function best in rhyming lines of work and rest. Sometimes, time with friends and family can also feel like work. But we are also called to rest, not just the kind of rest where our bodies and mind can slow down,but the kind of soul-filling rest we can only get from communion with God. The ability to breathe, slow down, gather our scattered senses, and just rest in Him.
So, during this time, as I wonder about the year to come, I find myself eager in anticipation while also reflecting on the days past.
Today, I sit in a little bedroom on the first floor of a house, a home filled with family. A home which for the last week has been filled with laughter, sounds of children playing, tables groaning under the weight of delicious food prepared by loving hands, and above all a house filled with prayer & gratitude. I hear the sounds of autorickshaws and buses outside my window, the sounds of anvils and hammers as workers clean up the rubble from the floods of the week past, sounds of life getting back to routine as people recover from huge loss.
There was doubt and anxiety in our hearts as we considered our trip to my husband’s hometown to celebrate Christmas. The floods had ravaged huge areas of Southern Tamil Nadu. But God. He was faithful, and while so many families had lost so much, for our family, it almost felt like nothing had changed. We had every luxury we needed and more. We were able to come together as a family and celebrate, and for that, I feel deep gratitude.
So today, in this strange liminal space, I ask God to open my ears to hear His still, small voice. I ask Him to help me find quiet in my soul to receive whatever He may have for me in the coming year.
I look back on 2023 using 4 simple steps. Also called the Prayer of Examen, this method can be used every day to help us center ourselves on God and is a foundational tool of spiritual formation.
Examen is sometimes referred to as “examination of consciousness” and was made popular by Ignatius of Loyola ( 1491-1556)
It has helped millions of Christians centre themselves on Jesus as they come to the end of long and complicated days. This practical way of reviewing the day affords us the opportunity to become aware of the ways God’s presence has been pursuing us while we’ve been awake.
It also encourages us to pay attention to the promptings of God that we may have missed and the times we were less than Christ-like. This grants us an opportunity to receive again the grace and forgiveness of Jesus. The Examen has been practiced in different ways down through the years but essentially involves a mix of gratitude, careful review, Godly sorrow, forgiveness, and renewing grace.1
The 4 steps are:
Remember - I look back on my life this year. Where have I seen God work? What did God do in my life? Where did I feel joy, anxiety, fear, gratitude?
Rejoice- As I look back on 2023, I simply rejoice. I choose to rejoice in God’s goodness. He was with me in the good times and in the bittersweet times. I choose to thank Him for all the details in my life. I often overlook warm meals, the good company of friends, a roof over my head, a family to laugh with, and the kindness of a stranger.
Repent - As I continue to recall the past year, I ask myself, where did I mess up? What was my attitude during certain times? What behaviours do I regret? To whom was I sarcastic, cruel, and hurtful? Could I have done things better? What sinful thoughts did I have that I hid in my heart? Did I lack compassion? Did I think I was better than others? Was I prideful? I ask God for forgiveness and repent of my sins. I choose to receive His forgiveness and ask God to have compassion on me.
Resolve - As I have spent time Remembering, Rejoicing, and Repenting, I choose now to look forward to the year ahead. I ask God for grace and His favour to rest upon me. I want to live for Jesus and to glorify Him with all that is in me. So, I ask myself, how can I live differently and do better in the new year? I surrender my pride and all I am to Him, asking Him to lead and guide me. I ask for His compassion and for Him to reveal to me areas of my life that I have not yet surrendered to Him. I want to feel His presence in every area and every moment of my life.
The Prayer of Examen can be used at the end of every day, to help us center our relationship with Christ and remind us that all through the day, we are in His presence. The problem is we do not often pay attention to Him. It’s not just another practice or habit we need to check off our to-do list but a way of life.
And so, as we come to the end of 2023 and we look forward to 2024, may we live each day and each moment as a new beginning, constantly aware of the presence of God around us.
“We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning,” writes Henri Nouwen, ‘as a unique opportunity to make everything new.2
Psalm 90:12-17
Teach us to number our days
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Peter Greig, How to hear God: A simple guide for normal people
Henri J M Nouwen, Here and Now, Living in the Spirit