The fallacy of New Year’s resolutions are sometimes astounding in part that believing that it's possible to change things just by putting words down on paper or mentally making a list. The human problem is that we fall back into habits that have brought us happiness, unhappiness, or just bad relations with our bodies over the years. Mark Twain wrote that "Habit is habit, and not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time". Our habits have us marked almost the same as the animals we sometimes laugh at but are not things to be scoffed at. They sometimes take on a subtler form that we are certain are needed.
Resolve: to make a firm decision about. A resolution is a statement made that should bring about change. I once read that a resolution is something that you should be doing anyway. I have also read that one who breaks resolutions is a weakling, opposed to one who makes them being a fool. I resolve to do _______ better this year always has the ring of false hope about it. It is seen in the number of things purchased to improve our bodies and minds around the first of the year in the blind belief that any number of equipment purchases, gym memberships, videos, or vegetables mixed and swallowed can fix overnight what nature has wrought over the years.
I have fallen into the trap of believing that things will get done just because I put them on a list. From the numerous times I have mentioned about my mind wandering you get the idea that sometimes things just don't get done around me. The perfect system of procrastination is one where you put things off long enough so that those who wanted them done forgot or got someone else to do them. It doesn't always work because sometimes putting things off too long will lead to trouble, like getting that checkup, or fixing the fence. I have used up all the excuses that man can come up with and then some to keep from tasks that I don't like or don't think that I can accomplish. It's convenient to play dumb convenience has us in the shape we are in.
I am still digging through the bookmarks, notes, pictures, and papers that were left behind here from 50 years of Smiths in this house. Looking at the pictures brings smiles and knowledge of love and loved ones. Looking through the notes, notations, and writings shows a plethora of wisdom and knowledge that I have just begun to tap into. One thing in particular I have had here in front of me for the past week or so. It is a simple statement that Jesus' mother said to some waiters at a wedding feast in Cana that Jesus attended at the beginning of His ministry here as a human. She said "do whatever He tells you to do". You can't get simpler than that. The waiters probably thought that Jesus was crazy when He told them to fill up the urns with water but they did.
Do whatever He tells you to do! What a resolution. We are called to follow Him just as those 12 were 2000 years past. Not get into this program that will enrich our minds and bodies and let us live longer and happier but simply to follow. Do whatever He tells you to do. I think that will be my resolution for 2017. I thank you dear readers for following me this past year or so. 2016 has been an interesting year and I look forward to '17 with interest. I love you all. Until next week. ags.
