Minister’s Letter 1/1/2025
Beloved Friends,
We are entering a new year, 2025. I wonder if you, like me, are finding it wild that we are a quarter century into the millennium. My friends in Boston do not take part in annual new year’s resolutions. Instead, we encourage one another to make birthday resolutions. This is a bit different for me since my birthday is on December 30th. So, basically, I’m making new year’s resolutions year after year. I have some rules about the resolutions I make. I am not allowed to make resolutions about how my body looks, I strive to make resolutions that are focused on adding positive things to my life, I will not resolve to do more than three things, and I do not have to start any of my resolutions immediately on the next day but rather aim to get them integrated into my life by the end of the year. Are you a resolution maker? Do you have guidelines that help you? What do you do to ensure your resolutions are achievable and free from punishment of yourself?
I am still not 100% sure what my resolutions are going to be this year. I have a few potential ideas about things focused on my health and wellbeing. A few years ago my friend Mahsa resolved to eat more pie. I LOVED that resolution. In a culture that thrives on deprivation diets, this was such a subversive resolution. It brought joy and play into her life as well as delicious things to eat. I am pretty sure that one of mine is to going to be to cook at least three times per month. You may think to yourself, Rev. Jason, that is an overly achievable goal. In my case, you would be wrong. I find cooking for one to be immensely challenging. Instead, I spend too much money ordering food for delivery. It is far from ideal and certainly not the best way to take care of my body. I need to come up with some incentives to make myself cook. I am excited to try and make more delicious chicken thighs in delicious butter sauce with kale salads. I know it will be tasty. The trick is to make it happen.
It is amazing to me that there are so many things that we know will be good for us but that are so hard to achieve anyhow. I love swimming, with my whole heart and body. And still, it can be hard to motivate myself to get to the pool. I know it will make me feel good but it takes a lot more energy than just heading home and plopping down in front of my television. Why can’t I just feel inspired to move my body in ways that feel good and nurture not only my physical wellness but also my spirit? I wonder if you wrestle with the same things. I know many of us do.
If you want to share your resolutions with me, or anyone else at church, to help with your own accountability, I encourage you to do so. When we speak our resolutions aloud it can be easier to feel healthy pressure to follow through. Positive peer pressure can feel good at times. It is not about policing one another. Instead, it is about cheering one another on and encouraging one another to succeed. We can all use more of that. We all deserve cheerleaders.
As this new year begins, maybe you want to resolve to come to church on a more regular basis. Maybe you want to resolve to take on some responsibilities at church. Maybe you want to connect with someone new at church. Consider adding church to your resolutions and see what that might do for your spirit.
In faithful solidarity,
