Blessing Your Path for the New Year

"May God make your path, this coming year, a happy one! Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain, but by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes; not by making your path easy, but by making you sturdy to travel your path, any path; not by taking hardships from you, but by taking fear from your heart to face those hardships headon; not by granting you unbroken sunshine, but by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows; not by making your life always pleasant, but by showing you when people and their causes need you most, and by making you anxious to be there to help. My prayer is for God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the coming year. My prayer is, as always, for more tolerance toward those of other faiths. What we call our belief is not as important as practicing the core of our belief. Love each other, be righteous, and praise your God. We will fail at much along our path, and herein lie our lessons. God bless us all."

As I sit here in my mental highchair, munching on another thought banana,  I can't help but think, "Well we've managed to do it.  As hard as some of us have tried to piss off God, leave our path, get lost, and totally muck up our lives, we have been given the reprieve of yet another year in paradise.  How awesome is that?"  Now, what are we going to do with this awesome opportunity to excel?  More to the point, what are you going to do?

Are you confused at my eagerness to attack yet another year?  Are you finding it hard to wrap your mind around a feeling of excitement for the coming year, when the one you've just left behind sucked so badly?  Are you having a difficult time wrapping your mind around another year of a shitty life which is the product of the equally shitty decisions you have made?  Still blaming God for all you have allowed to happen in your miserable life?  Well, maybe it's time you change your decision making paradigm to one with decisions for rosier outcomes.

Have you made that "New Year Resolution" to be more than you are?  My problem with these "resolutions" is that we generalize to a desired outcome.  I resolve to lose weight, be happier, get laid, get rich, be debt free, or maybe give myself over to Christ.  We are all pretty good at resolving to a desired outcome, and few of us actually follow through to that end.  And, here comes my favorite question, "Why?"

We resolve to an achievable outcome, yet few of us resolve to the tasks needed to achieve it.  You can't resolve to bring about world peace, unless you resolve to be more tolerant and understanding along your path in order to bring about world peace.  You cannot resolve to lose weight unless you resolve to stop going back for second helpings of food and start eating healthier.  You can't resolve to be more righteous and stronger in your faith until you resolve to define your faith, your spirituality, and your beliefs.  You can't resolve to be a better person until you resolve to know the person you are now.

Is your life a bucket of crap due to debt?  Get out of debt.  A bad relationship?  Dump the dead weight for someone who truly cares.  Lousy "friends" around you?  Surround yourself with a better class of friends.  Living in fear of what others think?  What is living in fear of their thoughts garnering you, and don't you think its time to stop listening to ignorance?  Resolve to the process required to achieve a desired outcome, not to the outcome.  It is easy at the end of the year to say you failed to achieve the outcome, it is also easy to say you succeeded in tasks required to achieve the outcome.  Achieve in the steps, one brick at a time.  It is in the process of art the artist finds peace, not in the final product.  It is in the process we learn and appreciate victory, not in the "gift" of success without trial. 

Remember, it is all about the journey, not the destination.

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as Chaplain Program Liaison, at a regional medical center.