Well another Christmas is beginning to blur. New Year's Day is only hours away. TV and Radio as well as newsprint are pointing to hopes for the new year.Our spiritual lives are worthy of review. Like the picture to the left, it happens that our spiritual lives can become somewhat blurred. Most individual, if honest, will 'fess up to the weaknesses that occur during a previous year. The intention was there ... but as we look back, perhaps we hear our inner voice: "It just wasn't strong enough." I know that any resolution or plan will be successful only if my intention is strong and deliberate.
One of the preparatory thoughts you might try to "wrap you brain around" as some have called the effort to get into our deeper selves, is to realize that looking simply at personal growth is insufficient: you need to know well your spiritual orientation. Without it, most likely, all the plans, all the resolutions will wash out to sea.
It is a looking into ourselves, looking into our spiritual lives that we bring ourselves to know not just the Holy Spirit but the power of the Holy Spirit. In dealing with this Person of the Trinity, we are not doing something. We are experiencing the presence and power of our Creator God.
Take a few moments, in darkness to be alone with one burning candle. Stare at the burning light for a while. In a short time your mind will have taken you from the surroundings to another place, to a space where you are with the Holy Spirit, where you are able to discern: and what should I seek to achieve in the year ahead. In the silence, listen. You will hear of voice in your heart. Again, it will be the power of the Spirit calling and leading you on your journey for the newest decade of the 21st century.
