So in the waning hours of 2014 I find myself not really in the mood to party. Instead I’m sitting and my kitchen table grading papers, drinking something warm and walking back and forth into the other room. Occasionally I glance at my television where drunken revelers in a faraway city are pretending to enjoy themselves while freezing, in anticipation of an illuminated glass orb slowing “dropping” about 30 feet or so without even a crash to show for it. And yes that maybe the most priggish paragraph I’ve ever written.
Why so sour? In all honesty I’m not. The fact is 2014 has been good me personally, very good. And I don’t mean so much financially. It’s been a year were I’ve seen some things in my life finally completed, that I’ll never have to go through again. So was 2014 better than 2013? Definitely.
But the same cannot be said for the nation. 2014 was a year that has brought more social and political unrest, both at home and abroad than any period since the 1960s. The country has been treated to new lies and scandal on what has seemed like a weekly basis. The world over radical terrorism is on the rise and the persecution of Christians in Iraq has created a new crop of martyrs, (may light perpetual shine upon them).
So what are the chances of a better year starting in a few short hours? I don’t know. If I consulted what I see around me, I have to say the odds aren’t good. But the fact is I try to walk by faith rather than sight. I find the unrest which surrounds me upsetting. The arrival of deadly new diseases to our shores, the prospect of new terror attacks at home, and the changing political structure in the country all make me fear for the world in which my son will grow up. On the other hand my life as it is, is far, far, better with far, far, more opportunity than that of 90+ percent of most of the humans who have ever walked the planet, and for that I’m grateful.
So what do I want to see in 2015? I can think of no better benediction than one of Franklin’s maxims: “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man.” Happy New Year Tyler Texas. Whatever 2015 brings us, I have faith we’ll muddle through.