​How did you spend New Year’s Eve?  Were you celebrating the fact that 2025 is in the past and gone, or that you have another year full of possibilities ahead of you? Maybe it was a little of both.

Prepare yourselves....strap in and buckle up, my friends. Something wonderful is coming. We have been given a tremendous gift, an invaluable gift, a gift beyond measure. It is the gift of a New Year.  It can be a turning point, a milestone. The finish line of one race, and the starting line of another.  It can be an opportunity to start over. A do-over. A mulligan. A blank page to a new chapter. A chance to breathe a sigh of relief, to put the past behind us and look with grateful anticipation for better things to come.

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However, in nature, this is of little significance, it will be just another day, another turning of the planet. And some of us might agree that the transformation from 2025 to 2026 is just the process of going from one day to the next, a natural occurrence. The sun sets, the sun rises, and life goes on. 

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Where are you in all this? And does it matter? Yes, it matters. More than any other species, humans perceive their own existence and their position in life by how we interact with others. What we hope for in the future - (not just our own future, but the future of everyone around us) - all matters. To put it simply, our hopes and dreams matter.

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Our imagination is what defines us as God's own....it separates us from the other animals. It makes us uniquely and truly the children of God.  So regardless of how you perceive the upcoming new year, what do you imagine it might bring? In your own imagination, is the New Year anything more than remembering to change the date at the top of your bank checks?  How will you meet this new year? What is it you want? What is it you hope for? What is within your reach?

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We humans are interconnected. What affects one, affects us all. Our individual successes are everyone's successes. Our individual defeats do the same. I invite us all today to approach this new year with unlimited imagination - for ourselves, for the people in our own circles, and also for this church.  Let us be bold, and  unrestricted in our thinking, and unafraid to share those ideas. Let's open the gift of imagination that God has given us and use it.

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Imagine unlimited possibilities - and when we do, let us remember not only how they might make our own lives better but also what they might do to positively influence everyone around us - in our families, in our church, in our community and in the world.  Let us resolve to bravely enter this New Year,  for as long as we have our imaginations, we have hope, and tomorrow eagerly awaits us. +

Pastor Jessilou