A New Year’s Reflection
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? It’s a question; not a call to forget or put the past out of mind.
To be sure, there are elements and events that, “need be shoved behind.” But not the people. That is, those who’ve by acquaintance with us, both positive and negative, have helped to shape our lives. Without them, without their influence upon us, again, both positive and negative, who would we be?
This year, this has come home to me as never before as I reflect upon “Old Acquaintances.” There are so many friends and associates who are now gone, passed from this life over the last three years. I feel the weight of their absence, all of them, the good, the bad, the ugly. Yet despite this, they remain present by the influence they’ve had upon us.
If this year is to dawn brighter than the last, and I’ve prayed specifically that it will, not just for me, but for us all, it’s imperative, that we remember the people that accompanied us, in whose company we traveled upon our journey through this life; for they’ve helped define us, and make us the person we’ve become.
Like most of you, I grew up from earliest recall, hearing the New Year’s Anthem sung traditionally at the stroke of midnight upon New Year’s Eve; to note the passing of the old year and to celebrate the birth of the new one before us.
Such hope! We feel that somehow, against all odds, the coming year will be better than the last. That somehow we will all become “Better” this coming year.
Most of us, I think, resolve to make the effort in one way or another. I also think that each year we need this new beginning, this fresh start, with its opportunities and a chance to do better.
But … “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?”
The successes, the failures, the pain or the promise, the toils or the joys; those Auld Acquaintances that in great or small measure, by their influence, have shaped our lives.
As I cast a backward glance over my 75 years, I remember them all, those acquaintances, good and bad with everything in between; I find myself grateful for everyone of them. For they’re all a part of me, of who I am, the person I’ve been helped to become, not perfect, to be sure! But bettered.
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Romans 14:7
Ultimately, to make sense of life and all its relationships, all of them in total, from beginning to end, we must factor in GOD. How in His hands, All things, really do, work together for good, for those who love GOD and are called according to His purpose.
As we move forward into the bright promise of this New Year, let’s not forget Auld Lang Syne, our “Old Long Since,” those who were, and those who are; They’re all an integral part of who we are and whom we shall yet be.
Gratefully wishing each and everyone of you a Happy New Year.
Jack Harris
Jack Harris Ministries 