Look Both Ways - Again
Crossing into the New Year
[This post was originally published on December 31, 2023. I am releasing it again for two reasons. One, it fits for this time of the year. Two, I just had my oldest daughter and her family visit. YAY! Our other daughter was not able to visit as originally planned, but one daughter only delayed her visit.]
Being at the edge of the year’s end invites awareness of past and future, looking forward to the promise of the upcoming year, while looking backward to the expiring year. In this issue of Mystery’s Voice, I ponder looking both ways, while also living today.
Original "Look Both Ways" with Audio
Image: Capercallie in winter at Mystery Acres.
My Mysterious Mind
The last two months of the year are my favorite, and not because of Thanksgiving and Christmas. As an incessant strategist, I love looking back at the previous year’s goals and looking forward to the next year’s goals. Accomplishing tasks, small and large, is critical to me. Sometimes I will write something down on my “to do” list that I have just completed so I can cross it off. My preference is to have a set of goals for each year and smaller sets of objectives for every day.
My annual objectives are organized into categories: Personal (Emotional and Physical), Professional (Work and Substack), Family (children, grandchildren, extended family), Legal and Financial, Home and Property, Spiritual and Church, Marriage, Friends, and Recreation/Travel. Typically, in my journal, I have a table of 12 boxes corresponding to the upcoming months of the year; I add known highlights and travel plans into the corresponding box. With every member of our family at least a two-hour drive away from us, I look ahead to see what trips are needed and in what months. For example, in 2024 I know of an important graduation and the birth of a fifth grandchild. We also have a scheduled trip in late summer for which we already have reservations.
Before I create the objectives for the upcoming year, I reflect on the objectives from the year that is ending. What objectives were completely achieved? Which objectives remain incomplete and need to be prioritized in the upcoming year? What changes in the categories are in order? I usually write a year-end summary, sort of a status report, from which I base future objectives. Included will be significant changes from the previous year, such as deaths, births, and changes in work, health, or other circumstances.
Life to me is one big journey, with daily tasks and travels embedded. I put as much effort into planning my life as some people do in just planning a vacation. I heard a speaker say, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I prefer to live life “on purpose” and not “by accident.” Sure, things happen along the way that are unexpected, some pleasant and some unpleasant. Adaptation is in order, much like detours are needed on long trips. It’s no big deal. But I don’t get out of bed and wander through each day. It’s not my style. For me, I am continually glancing behind me to see where I have been while navigating to my next destination. This “looking both ways” is my approach to life, with eyes forward while keeping the rearview mirror visible.
Message of Mystery Acres
My time in the forest is different than my time in the concrete and asphalt jungle. Spontaneity characterizes my forest wanderings. Is now a good time for a walk? Or is this the perfect opportunity to relax in the hammock? I usually have a short “to do” list for each visit with things like “fill the hummingbird feeders” or “spray vinegar on the road.” I like to have a few signs of productivity for each visit.
But Mystery Acres is good at helping me focus only on today’s journey, without looking too much at yesterday or tomorrow. Each day is its own beautiful bubble and contains supplies for that day. Sometimes a day’s tasks include preparing for tomorrow’s needs, such as packing food for the visit to the forest. At other times today’s tasks include packing up and heading back to our home because we need to be somewhere else tomorrow. Nonetheless, the focus is still more today-focused than is my nature. Mystery Acres has taught me to live in today in a sense of enough-ness. Crossing off items on my “to do” list is less essential to my placing a positive value on each day. The message of Mystery Acres is to keep my eyes on today, with only glances into the past or the future.
Mystery Acres also calls to me from the past with knowledge of others who have gone before me. The picture in this issue is of one of the trees shaped by native people. I named this tree Capercallie, which is Celtic for “horse,” with the full name being “horse of the woods.” The shape is typical of burial markers; this one probably marks the graves of tribal leaders. Grandmother, introduced in an earlier issue, looks due east, directly towards Capercallie, with both of them probably overlooking a village. I visit these two trees during my trips to the woods, honoring the people who loved and cared for this land long before I was even born. Today, I am a caretaker of this land, but, in the future, I will not be. Mystery Acres reminds me to honor the past, while living in the present, aware of a future that belongs to someone else.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
“Even the darkness will not be dark to You.” (see Psalm 139:12)
My daily flashlight doesn’t reach very far into tomorrow. I can see vague outlines of things to come in the days, weeks, and months ahead, but no details. I need more “light” for that. Tomorrow and the days after are mostly unknown, beyond the reach of today’s light. The future is largely in the darkness of the not-yet-known.
If I could “see” better, I could plan better. Alas, my daily flashlight is extremely limited. I can see into the past and consider everything that my memory serves me well enough to recall. But the road ahead is mostly cast in shadows. As a perpetual planner, I want more details about the future. Perhaps being unable to see the future is why some of us get stuck in the past.
The writer of Psalm 139, who penned his thoughts several thousand years ago, was pondering the past and the future. As he looked backward, all the way to his conception, he asserted that His Maker had known him as he was formed in the womb. He further proclaimed that all his days were already known by His Maker before one of them came to be (see v. 16). He wrote that “even the darkness will not be dark to You” as he considered the knowledge his Lord and Maker had of his life.
These words of Ancient Mystery’s Voice proclaim that the darkness of our unknown isn’t dark to the Lord of All Mystery. He sees all of the days ahead of us. That proclamation, by itself, brings limited comfort unless the knowledge of our future includes a plan of love for each day. Can I trust the One who knows the days ahead? Is that knowledge part of a plan to provide for my daily needs? I want to know what the future holds so I can plan. Does the One who knows the future have a plan for me?
This is where faith steps in, but also the act of remembering. Has the Lord who knows my days been faithful to provide for me in the past? How has He delivered me, comforted me, and loved me? If the past is full of my knowledge of His love, then I can trust the future will be, too. There will be trouble ahead, but also the daily supply to face it. If this has been true in the past, it is safe to trust it will be true in the future. The dark unknown of the future isn’t dark to the One who already knows the future. He has a plan and it is a plan of love for those who seek and trust Him.
Living in Mystery
This time of the year reminds of just that: time. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow mark the days. Last year, this year, and next year mark the years. On the edge of a “new” year we are prompted to look behind and ahead. What are the highlights of the passing year? What are the hoped-for events of the coming year? How can we learn from the past in order to live better in the future?
As an old mom to young parents, I encourage you to think about your objectives in parenting each of your children. Where can you help your children become a bit more of the well-adjusted adults the future can hold for them? What challenges lie ahead of each child, such as changing schools or learning important new skills? How can you prepare yourself to better prepare them? Raising well-adjusted children doesn’t happen by accident, it happens on purpose. This time of the year is a great time to adjust your efforts to support healthy parenting objectives.
For some of you, the new year begins without the presence of someone you love. As you look back you see them in your life; but as you look forward you do not. I am so sorry for the sadness this brings you. I pray there are other people whose love can fill the empty places in your heart.
What does the new year have in store for us? Well, if it’s like most years, there will be car trouble, storms, and sickness. Income may show up from unexpected places, while also leaving due to unplanned expenses. Yes, there will be difficult days in the coming year, but my confidence is there will be many more days filled with the possibility of laughter, joy, and love. And I am certain the One who made me and loves me is waiting for me along the path ahead, ready to provide all I need. I pray you find Him along your path, too.
Living in the mystery of “looking both ways” means learning from the past and looking to the future, while focusing on today. Today can be lived with intentional efforts towards improving tomorrow, drawing from the lessons of yesterday. The light of today is barely visible tomorrow until it becomes today, but the Lord of All Mystery is already living in tomorrow, where its darkness is not dark at all.
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, as the year ends, there is so much for me to consider. I see joy and sorrow behind me, with uncertainty and hope in front of me. Help me to remember the many ways in which You have provided for me during hard times and easy ones. Help me to trust You for the unknown days ahead, being confident in your presence and provision. Thank You for being the light for today and for the days ahead. Amen.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, I suggest you go to Bible Gateway. This free online version of the Bible allows a search of words or phrases in various translations. Psalm 139 makes for good end-of-the-year meditation.
I’m reminded of a hymn often sung at year’s end, Our God, Our Help in Ages Past. I love the comfort of the lyrics; they emphasize a constant God who has existed before us and has an eternal home waiting for us with Him. This timelessness is a source of strength, especially at the changing of another year.
Original link to Look Both Ways with Audio
You can find previous posts of The Adventure of Reflection at ARCHIVE. You can find organized compilations of previous posts in the My “Books” section.
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