Five New (Church) Year’s Resolutions

on September 3, 2014

September 1st marks the start of the new liturgical year in the Orthodox Church. As such, it’s a time of many faith-themed resolutions. Whether you’re Orthodox or part of another Christian faith tradition, I encourage you to look at these five ‘New Church Year resolutions’ and see how you might be able to accommodate them into your own daily life.

1) Set up a ‘prayer rule’ or routine of daily prayer. This is something active, churchgoing Orthodox Christians are already familiar with, but in short, it means to talk with your priest or spiritual adviser and set up a specific discipline of daily prayers for you to follow. Beginning your morning and ending your evening with these prayers, with spontaneous ones as well, is a wonderful way to reintegrate and refocus your life around Christ. No matter how busy you are, if you put in the effort to lead a disciplined spiritual life and reorient your energy around your relationship with Christ, you will see immense spiritual fruit and personal benefits from this refocusing.

2) Give small amounts of money, and large amounts of personal respect, to the needy on a daily basis. There’s something to be said for the extremely humbling, powerful spiritual gift we receive when we give of ourselves to the poor, who are often closest to Christ. The Lord manifests Himself so often in the person of the poor, those we often pass by on our way to the metro or into a store. It is a noble and biblically sanctioned act to give of one’s goods and earnings to the poor, but giving materially is just one small part of true philanthropy, true love for one’ fellow men and women.

In my experience, what is often even more spiritually beneficial to those struggling in material need is, in addition to giving them your spare change or a few dollar bills, to do so with real love. Giving a few dollars with genuine warmth and a kind, loving demeanor will often mean more to the person than giving a greater amount but doing so without pausing to talk to him or her. Pause for a few moments and engage the person directly with a smile. Ask them their name, how they are doing, and see in them above all else the ineffable image of God. Affirming the person’s basic humanity with a heartfelt “God bless you” or “have a blessed day” in my experience often more than equals any material comfort we can give.

3) Make a special effort to talk with older members of your community. I’ve been blessed to grow up in close proximity to my grandparents and to Holocaust survivors, and it has been a great blessing for me to take advantage of all these relationships offer. Regardless of whether or not your grandparents are still alive, I encourage you to reach out to older members of your neighborhood and your church community. Buy them lunch or dinner if you can afford it, or just find a quiet corner to talk with them about their life. One of the greatest benefits of this is the incredible humor, insight, and sense of perspective that comes with age. The elderly are truly a treasure with great wisdom, if only we young people would see it.

4) Make more time for those who truly matter in your life, including parents, siblings, dear friends, and your spiritual guide or pastor. If you’ve been putting off calling someone for whatever reason, or apologizing to someone, make use of the present, for you never know when you or someone else might be called to the next life. If you’re dreading resolving a long-running conflict with someone, pray for humility and strength, and offer an apology before expecting one from the other person, even if he or she was in the wrong. Time is an invaluable gift, and a fleeting one.

5) Remember God as often as you can. Try to remember as often as you can throughout the day the incredible beauty of Christ’s love for you, a love so great that He deigned to come into this world, preach repentance, suffer indescribable torments, and offer Himself up for the sake of the whole world as a perfect sacrifice. Bask in the glory of your redemption, a redemption that occurred 2,000 years ago and which still occurs today. Glory in your salvation, and the salvation of your family and friends and church community, and praise Christ in your heart and in deed for the glorious promise we have of resurrection from the dead and eternal life with Him. Make an effort to incarnate and unite this joy you feel as a Christian believer into your daily life, so that, in all things, you bear your burdens in a way that is tempered with this joy, and you become a light to others.

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