Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

As the clock ticks toward midnight , the song that is this old year rapidly begins to fade. The writer of Ecclesiastes senses and exposes the turmoil of our human condition. As we reflect on the past twelve months, life seems to have oscillated from one extreme to the other. In retrospect, it seems as if there really has been a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. We have planted, we have uprooted; we have wept, we have laughed; we have mourned, we have danced; we have been silent and we have spoken. We have been alive.

What have we gained from all the worry, anxiety, and busyness we have allowed ourselves to become enmeshed in over the past twelve months? Why have we not trusted God-the one who has made everything beautiful in its time, who has set eternity in the hearts of all humanity. We have not begun to fathom what God has accomplished during this past year. More often than not, we’ve simply been too busy, too tired, too distracted .

Yet, despite all the distractions of the world, our loving God has persisted with us! God waits patiently for us to remember that we are God’s beloved children. As the world prepares to send expensive fireworks hurtling into the sky to mark the end of the old year, can we find it in our hearts to light a single candle on behalf of the refugee, the poor, the humble, the disenfranchised? As the clock ticks toward midnight, the song that is this old year thankfully begins to fade.

PRAYER:

Loving God, we have not loved you with our whole heart .We have been distracted by too many things to hear your voice or sense your presence in the everyday. Forgive us we pray. Lord, help us to sing a new song. Amen.