When I was very young, the town in which I lived had a remote road comprised of several closely spaced rolling hills. Although I don’t remember, I am told that my father and I played a game there. He would drive the family car along that street as fast as he dared, creating a sort of roller coaster experience, to my delight. When we reached the end, I’d say “Do it again, Dad,” to which he’d turn around and give me a repeat performance. Apparently this went on until we just had to go home.
Recently the calendar flipped to a new year. People everywhere seem to get excited whenever that happens. New beginnings are refreshing, but we don’t have to go twelve months between enjoying them.
Jeremiah, the biblical prophet, wrote that the Lord’s steadfast love and unending mercy are new each and every morning. That’s a good thing, because I need them just that often. In fact, time after time I’ve started a new day by saying “Do it again, Dad,” and He does.
Regrettably, I am a repeat offender.
A central theme of Peaceful Warrior author Dan Millman’s writings is that “There are no ordinary moments.” While I’m not immune to the symbolic power of a new year’s clean slate, I also take the atttitude that every day I am born afresh. Every day is a fresh start with 24 hours of opportunities and choices that can add to and enlarge the person I was the day before. I know that God is always ready to work with me on making each day count. The key is to be open, moment by moment, to all that is extraordinary even in the most familiar, ordinary day.