My calendar year 2015 actually started five weeks before 2014 ended. I had been asked to preach at the church I now call home on the first Sunday of Advent. And while I was okay with what I said and how I said it, I left the church that day feeling like something was missing, that the sermon was, in some key way, unfinished. And that became my word for 2015. I tried to use it as a lens as I read, as I taught, and I tried to love those around me. What was missing in what I said that Sunday? Could the same be said for the other areas of my life?

And so here I am, at the end of 2015, fully aware that I leave this year unfinished. It was a good year, though it had its particular difficulties. A number of seeds were sown this year, mostly thank to experiences at work coupled with the writings of people like James K. A. Smith, Rod Dreher, Alan Jacobs, and others. Those guys weren’t new to my thinking in 2015, but their online and print presence definitely became more substantial. A number of books beyond that quartet also took root, particularly Kevin VanHoozer (whose name kept creeping into my lectures and lessons at school). I look forward to seeing how all of those seeds and fledgling plants grow in the coming year.

What was most unfinished from that sermon, as best as I can surmise just over a year later, was my inability to speak more directly and decisively “into the moment” of those listening. Part of that was the nature of the task: begin the Advent season in the pastor’s absence, not get everybody riled up. Part of that is the nature of teaching: “you can lead a horse to water; you can even make it drink; but you can’t change its point of view.” But there has to be moments where there is more than that.

I am not overly optimistic about 2016. By that, I mean that I am not blindly optimistic. This is not to dismiss the goodness of God and the kindness of people. Not being an optimist doesn’t make you a pessimist, either (as I’ll hopefully teach my students in a few weeks, that’s an example of the either-or fallacy). It is mostly a matter of waking up, staying awake, and being watchful as life happens. I think that’s quite biblical, wonderfully New Testament, event. I look forward learn more by loving God and loving my neighbor as myself. I am hopeful, even if it involves patiently enduring when life is at its hardest. I am hopeful for great celebrations, too. I am most hopeful, though, for the chance to know the concern of the Father, the compassion of the Son, and the comfort of the Spirit in even the most simple of moments.

(image from efile.com)