Happy New Year! Out with the Old, Welcome the New

 

 So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! (2 Cor. 5:17 NRSVUE)

In the year 2025, we watched as the President of the United States and his government exhibited strong authoritarian tendencies, backed by a Christian nationalist base. What will 2026 bring? At first, likely more of the same. As for the long term, we don’t know. But, today is a day of new beginnings! 

I picked this passage from 2 Corinthians 5 to start the year. It is one of my favorite passages of Scripture, in large part because it offers hope for the future. The past is not determinative of the present or the future. The old has passed away, but something new is coming into existence. May that word speak to you as well.

With that, Happy New Year!