20/20 Vision in 2020

Yesterday I was at the gym in the earlier morning before it got too busy. There were a handful of the usual suspects along with those I'm guessing by age are diligent students home for the holidays. As I left the change room there was an exchange of "Happy New Year" well wishes from guys I speak with regularly but whose last names I don't know. At one level this is a quaint convention, yet it is an exercise in civility which is one of the threads of society worth preserving, at least from my perspective. 

There are congregations which have New Year's Eve services and some are even timed to usher in the new year. I'm grateful that the only pastoral charge to do this during my ministry was the first one, in outport Newfoundland. If I recall correctly it was described as a Watch Night service. In this day most mainline congregations are aged enough that midnight is way past peoples' bedtime. 

I do think it's worthwhile for Christians to use this occasion to look backward and forward to ask how we were faith-full and what can be deepened, both as individuals and communities. In a few weeks I'll lead a study at Trenton United, our church home, on hospitality. It's common for churches to have the phrase "everyone welcome" on a street sign or website, but what does that mean, particularly when there is evidence we have been less than welcoming. 

Hospitality is more than a slogan. It's a discipline, a spiritual gift, and an evolving perspective which involves both reflection and intention. What we may have assumed was hospitable a generation ago, or a decade ago, or even last year may not be what Christ calls us to today and tomorrow. 

So, Happy New Year to you all, both as a pleasant turn of phrase and as a challenge to living radical hospitality for this coming year. We might pray that Christ performs the spiritual cataract surgery which gives us 20/20 vision in 2020.