In his book, A View from the Front Porch: Encounters with Life and Jesus, author and counselor, Craig D. Lounsbrough, offers sage advice that we can find beneficial at any time in our lives, but particularly as we transition from the ending of one year into the beginning of the next. He says, “When I’m at the bottom looking up, the main question may not be ‘how do I get out of this hole?’ In reality, the main question might be ‘How do I get rid of the shovel that I used to dig it?’”

What better image is there, as we contemplate New Year’s resolutions, than tossing away the rusty tools we used in the past to create a pit filled with unproductive, unhealthy, and unholy life choices? We all want this year to be better than last year. We want our 2024 promises to last beyond January, February, or March—when more than 50% have failed—and continue to help us come closer to God and neighbor every month, every day, every year.

In the past, we did make genuine, concerted efforts to change for the better by searching for the gaps, the vacancies, and the pitfalls that deprive us of joy, success, and growth. These are easy to identify. We are keenly aware of feeling miserable, stuck, and trapped in the shaft of a dry well, thirsting for a rope and a bucket to lift us to freedom. But we fail to identify the pick, the axe, and the shovel we used to dig ourselves into that trap to begin with.

What are those instruments of destruction? Can we name the bad habits that prevent us from moving forward? What are the major misbehaviors that drag us backward? We know the causes of those deep slashes in our physical, social, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing which leave the gloomy scars that stare back at us whenever we look honestly into the bright mirror of life that God is calling us to live.

Do we have the fortitude to name the habits we fashioned to create those craters in the first place? And after we name them, are we really ready to toss those tools into the trash to avoid the temptation to dig new voids for ourselves in the future?

For example, when did we start ignoring medical advice about exercise and nutrition and preferring a sedentary consumption of empty calories? When did we fuel our anger with thoughts of revenge instead of forgiving those who trespass against us? When did we hoard hours of self-indulgent pleasures rather than spending time with family and friends? When did we envy the abundance that came to our neighbors instead of giving thanks for our own daily bread?

This year can be different. We can toss away the corroded equipment we used in the past to hollow out six feet of frozen earth. The splinters of ice that chilled our hearts into isolation can be melted by the warmth radiated from daily prayers and good deeds. We can forge New Year’s resolutions that will last by learning from our previous mistakes, rather than pretending they never happened.

Holy Homework:

Let’s name and bury the number one shovel we used in the past to dig a hole in our souls so we can stand instead on holy ground for the next 366 days and beyond.

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