Blog
New Year’s Day
A Time to Recharge and Refocus
Ecclesiastes 3:1–13
Matthew 25:31–46
by Jana Jones
. . . a time to keep silence, and a time to speak
—Ecclesiastes 3:7b
And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
—Matthew 25:40
We have come to the end of a long, highly political, highly charged year. It was a time to seek and a time to lose. It was hard. It was loud. It was gut-wrenching. I wanted to cry out, “Can’t we see the harm? Do we have veils over our eyes? Are our heads in the sand?” It was hard to find space away from the constant rhetoric, finger-pointing, and name-calling that tried to invade my sense of peace.
I find the beauty of the Christmas season is a time-out of sorts. A time to weep, a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. My soul needed to sit and heal for some time. I have needed the time to breathe in the simple love of God’s presence in my life and the assurance that God is always present. Always as close as the very air I breathe. I trust that God will be with me, no matter what happens.
The advent season has been my time to recharge and refocus. And now, it is the time to look to the future. What will the future be in the coming administration? Who will benefit? Who will be trod upon? As it has been for the last 155 years, it is the role of United Women in Faith to speak up, defending members of God’s family who are unjustly treated by society. May we gather our courage, take a deep collective breath, set our eyes on justice, and continue the work set before us in this new year and beyond.
Prayer
Lord of Liberation,
This new year fills us with many mixed feelings,
Anxiety and hope. Fear and determination.
Give us strength. Give us love. Fill us with hope.
May we have ears to hear the cries of the needy.
May we have eyes to see those in our presence who suffer.
May we find our voices to speak up.
May our hearts be set on fire to seek justice in an unjust world.
And, may you bless us with just enough foolishness to truly believe we can make a difference.
Amen.
Jana Jones is the National Board president of United Women in Faith.
The photograph is from the 2024 Daily Prayer Guide.
