The ♥ of the Matter

 

One of my New Year’s resolutions over the past several years has been the same. I resolve to reduce my commitments and doing too much in order to achieve a happier, healthier, and simpler, family oriented life—no more super-woman! Of course I plan to exercise more, to lose weight, and get more organized… I want to be patient, kind and generous too. I don’t know about you, but I love new beginnings. The chance to start over is a relief. It’s revitalizing and undoubtedly hopeful. Desire to start over, to improve ourselves, seems rooted somewhere deep in the human person, so deep that it transcends place and time, even crossing centuries. That certain part of me knows that I will likely get distracted at some point, but I will get back on course eventually.

 

Therefore do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  —2 Corinthians 4:17-17

 

Fr. John Oliver of Ancient Faith Radio tells a story about an elderly man who was rushed to a local hospital. On his way to a Christmas party he was struck by another car. The other driver was busy texting and veered into the older man’s lane. It all happened so fast. The damage to his body was substantial: one leg broken, the other numb, face and limbs cut from shattered glass, a broken wrist…

 

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics noticed that the man was in an additional kind of distress. The sudden shock of the crash induced a heart attack. The very first thing the attending physician at the hospital worked on was not the leg, not the wrist not the face—they focused on his heart. Later, one of the nurses recalled hearing the doctor say, “Don’t worry about the extremities,  if we save the  heart,  we  save  the  man.”

Resolutions can be a fine thing, but at the end of the day, they are extremities, and they are not really meaningful if the heart dies.

 

It’s mid-February and I already blew it. That is I blew it on the extremity resolutions. Oh well, all hope is not lost because above all, my new and primary resolution every day, week and every new beginning is, “I resolve to love.” Hope is not just about waiting for something amazing to happen—sometimes hope is simply about not losing heart. Consider this, love in your mind produces love in your life; the mind that is separate from God often forgets to check in with love. I resolve to love, I resolve to be a true reflection of God’s love. How about you? ♥

 

Reflections:

Consider keeping a journal of your thoughts and prayers

 

• Did you make New Years Resolutions this year? What have been your previous resolutions?

• How were you hopeful in approaching them? Did you stick with it after these two or did you lose heart?

• How do you think prioritizing your resolutions with love as the primary focus will change your outlook of hope?

• Do you ever entrust your efforts to God? If not, what is preventing you?

• Write your own prayer which reflects your change of heart to priritize how you can resolve to love.