On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, I ran into neighbors as they came home from synagogue. We chatted and caught up on news about our kids, and then the wife said, “We were just wondering aloud what this year will bring.” On the Jewish calendar, it’s now 5776.
I nodded and replied, “I kind of figure it doesn’t matter, because it will bring what it does. I suspect the goal in any year is to live in a way that doesn’t lead to regret. It’s more about taking each situation as it comes and remembering to make decisions that align with our core values.”
Lately I’ve been thinking that one of the biggest obstacles to Christian living is that we just plain don’t want life to be as hard as it is. This desire to reduce our stress load leads us to make choices based on what is easiest in the short term.
We give in to the tantrum, walk away from the difficult conversation, avoid people who need help and neglect to address weaknesses that hurt ourselves and others. Sometimes taking the easy path is so instinctive we don’t even notice we’ve veered off the narrow one.
As people of faith we are called to make decisions first and foremost on the basis of what honors God. Put another way, we are called to give our long-term values significant influence over our short-term decisions.
If and when we succeed in holding our faith close when we make choices, the chances we’re going to add regret to our burdens are smaller. And determining to do that, I think, is the best way to enter any day, week, month or year.
