A new year begins shortly, and we want to start 2026 as well as we can, with the help of the Lord.

If there is one thing for sure, we cannot count on ourselves to make the changes we need to make. Only with the help of God will we change and grow and turn our hearts around to experience his freely given pardons, second chances, clean slates, fresh starts, and new beginnings. We live this new year just one day at a time, each day filled with his mercy.

Some years ago, a popular “after Christmas” card contained a verse composed by Howard Thurman, an American Baptist preacher and theologian. It was focused on what we are to do when Christmas is over. The card read:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When kings and princes are home,
When Shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins.
To find the lost, to heal the broken,
To feed the hungry, to release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations, to bring peace among us,
To make music in the heart.

The words are a powerful reminder of not only what Jesus came to do, but also what Jesus asks us to do. Individually, of course, this work is an overwhelming challenge: healing the broken, rebuilding the nations, and bringing peace among us. This is where community comes in. Community, after all, makes us nothing less than powerful. Christian community provides us with the greatest power of all – in a leader named Jesus. He brings us together in this common purpose and mission of love and service. In recent years, it hasn’t been easy, but we try to be a community every day.

As the octave of Christmas closes on Thursday with the celebration of Mary, Mother of God, I wish you a holy New Year. On Friday, we embark on a year of fresh starts and new beginnings, God willing.