Happy New Year 2022: Surviving is Enough
I can’t believe it’s 2022. And I can’t believe that we are still in a damn pandemic. Remember the thought that after "two weeks to flatten the curve," things would go back to normal and how that shifted to, “this will be gone in the summer” to, “surely when we have a vaccine, the pandemic will have to end.” And yet here we are, about to enter 2022 and right now it feels like 2020 part 2.
I’m going to be honest, it’s hard for me to muster even a tiny bit of optimism for this year. Yes, I am so grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, but I am so disheartened by the lack of compassion towards others demonstrated by my fellow Americans. It feels like the CDC has essentially given up and its new guidelines amount to, “eh, just don’t die.”
And I don’t understand anti-vaxxers who are willing to ingest parasite poison, but no, an FDA approved vaccine is just too untrustworthy. I am disheartened those vaccines are not available in sufficient numbers worldwide. Rich nations do understand that we will never get COVID under control if the vaccine isn’t available worldwide? So yeah, you can encourage your population to get vaccinated and get the booster, but we need this to be a worldwide endeavor. We need to get as many people globally vaccinated as possible.
(While we need to demand that our national leaders do more to promote vaccine access for all, individuals can also help by donating to the United Church of Canada’s Gifts with Vision program. You can donate even if you aren’t in Canada)
Not to mention the disastrous pullout from Afghanistan (a perfect example of right action bad execution), natural disasters that killed hundreds of people in the US and throughout the world, the return of school shootings, continued violence against Native, Black, and brown people by law enforcement officers, the rise in global tensions, and all the personal problems that seem less dramatic than global political events but can even be more time consuming and draining.
I want to celebrate those who are just as excited and happy for the new year, but I’ll be honest ya’ll, I don’t think I can join you. I’m tired. And 2022 has only just begun. I want to acknowledge that exhaustion and twinge of hopelessness that I, and I am sure, many others experience.
I just want to affirm that it’s ok if your only hope and expectation for this year is to survive physically, emotionally, mentally. It’s ok if you’re one and only prayer this year is a desperate plea that you and your loved ones are able to survive this year relatively intact and see 2023.
And it’s ok if you look back this past year and your only “major” accomplishment is you survived. Know that your status as a beloved Child of God does not depend on arbitrary notions of success.
It’s ok if this year has been too much: too much suffering, too much grief, too many losses and you aren’t in the festive mood. Know that however, you choose to observe New Year’s (or don’t) is valid. (As long as it doesn’t endanger others and their health).
I’ll offer you my spiritual practice for this week. Take it or leave it as you wish. Feel free to embrace all of it, some of it, or reject all of it. But this week, I am taking time to read Scripture, talk with God, and reflect on this year. These reflection prompts have been helpful in helping me look back and articulate where I noticed God this past year, as well as express my hopes and dreams for 2022.
Where did it feel as if God was absent? Looking back, can I perhaps see glimpses of where God was still there, even if I couldn’t feel or see them at that moment?
What lessons did I learn in 2021?
What possible lessons do I need to learn in 2022?
What lies (about myself, the world, God) do I need to leave behind in 2021?
What are my dreams and hopes for this year? They can be as grand or as “small” as you desire.
How do these hopes and dreams mesh with what I believe to be God’s calling for me, for this year?
In what specific areas have I grown during this past year? What victories should I celebrate that I have overlooked as insignificant?
How am I going to be more attuned to God’s presence in my life, through the next year?
How am I going to cultivate hope throughout the year, for myself and for others?
What plans can I set in place now to help me navigate the inevitable highs and lows of the upcoming year?
Anyway, no matter how you choose to spend this day and no matter how you feel about this new year, I hope you know that you are loved, and you matter.
