Wow, we’re back! It seems like forever since I last did a post. Some of it had to do with a big platform conversion, returning http://www.makingallthingsnew.com back to WordPress. A longtime friend, who has been very generous over the years with his time and talent facilitated the switch, which involved moving years worth of content. I have to add that the current pandemic we have been experiencing the last several months, with no end in site, also played a role.
But here we are, ready to seize the day and partner with God to make something good of it. I took this photo three years ago. I had just finished defending my dissertation, and was exhausted. Wisely, I made plans months before to make a retreat and I chose a Jesuit retreat center in Gloucester, MA. Eastern Point faces the Atlantic Ocean, and let me just say its a wonderful place if you are seeking to recharge.
The main building of the center is a large mansion, built for a wealthy family early in the 20th century. The photo is of a sundial mounted on the ocean-facing side of the house. I guess it’s probably been there for nearly 100 years at this point, still performing the function for which it was made.
When I saw it, I reflected on the words, Carpe Diem, or Seize the Day. I remembered the scene in the movie Dead Poet’s Society, where Robin Williams, playing the role as teacher Mr. Keating, challenged the boys gathered around him, looking at photos of long-dead former students, to seize the day and make their lives extraordinary.
Friends, we seem to be at a major crossroads as a country and as a culture, and for me at least, it’s hard to see how it gets played out. This being said, the Lord called us to not be afraid. He promised to be with us always, until the end of the age. I believe in that promise, made two thousand years ago, and I for one trust in it deeply.
So, with this fresh new beginning at Making All Things New, the very title of the blog speaks to me. God is making something new, even though it’s not too clear at this moment. Let’s not give into despair and useless anxiety, which won’t help us much. Instead, let’s seize the day, and focus on all the good which is around us, and pray to God that we can make our lives extraordinary so as to be beacons of light to those around us. In these days, that would be extraordinary indeed.
