I'm in the midst of what I so disaffectionately consider a months long loss of words. The busyness of the holiday season wrapped around a big box of joyousness that just couldn't wait to be unleashed led me right back to the reality of a new year. As is becoming quite the cliche these days, I'm not big on New Years' Resolutions and that's a trait I intend to keep as we step into the year of the double zero seven. There is, however, an outlook of optimism for the coming year as I look forward to dreams not yet dreamed but achieved, disappointments not expected that don't disappoint quite as much as one might expect, and life lived lively. And no, I don't know what any of that means either.

I guess the point is, that I like the new year because even though I don't set resolutions for myself, I begin the year with a general sense of optimism. I believe that no matter how good or how bad the previous year was, this one will be even better. If I were an economist or a pessimist (are they different?), I might equate such a life perspective as foolish. As a Christian, though, I'm not sure how I can see it any other way. Not to say that I don't expect hardships. No, I believe Mt 7:24-27 provides evidence of quite the contrary. It's not that the rains and winds won't play their part in ushering in the storms of life. It's that the strength of my foundation will reveal itself with increasing vigor, basking in the emerging sunlight of every passing storm.