2019 A.D.

Here it is, on New Year's Eve, and I am home, in pajamas, not quite alone, but functionally so as I tidy up the aftermath of Saturday's Christmas celebration with my in-laws and my husband does whatever he's doing upstairs. Our 12 year old daughter is the only one with plans tonight, and I imagine she is having a grand time with friends, watching movies, eating, and staying up well past her typical bedtime. My aim is to start the new year with a calm, peaceful living room that will look very much like it did before Saturday's festivities. My aim is also to go to bed shortly after midnight, if I make it another hour. The mess tells me I still have an hour to go, so I will probably still be up to see the new year in. Whether I am or not, the 2019 will arrive. It doesn't need pomp and circumstance, it just needs time. With it, though, is a new year in which to declare Christ as Lord. Having just celebrated his birth a week ago, it is time to remember His lordship as we ring in the 2019th year of the reign of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I do not think it coincidental that we mark the passing of time with reference to the birth of Christ, though I think we often forget why we number our years as we do. It is easy to forget, on nights like this that are quiet and dark and cold - it's -7* outside currently - that we are in the midst of Christmastide, of celebrating the hope that has come and is coming again! As we wait in anticipation of the new year, may we remember that we serve a King who already sits on the throne, whose image is stamped on our souls, whose light shines in the darkness, who is our hope and our peace. Tonight, we celebrate, as people around the world declare that Jesus Christ is Lord with the ringing in of a new year. Tomorrow, we continue looking forward to the day when every tongue confesses that He is Lord. Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve

Of old and new

Of gold and blue

The clock ticks on 

To midnight. 

It feels darker, starker,

But the countdown

Leads to day. 

This eve is like Advent:

A time of waiting

For the hope of something new 

To arrive. 

But advent has gone

And Hope has come

And we are but awaiting 

His name on this eve of 

the 8th day of Christmas.

2019 years it has been

Since He was named

Lord 

of the ages

of Lords

And of Kings

Anno Domini

His sovereignty declared

With each exploding star

In the midnight sky

With each cheer of goodwill

Each twelve stroked kiss

They celebrate 

The past and future 

Coronation of the King

With the ringing in of this

New Year of our Lord. 

On New Year's Eve, Anno Domini, Advent, and Christmastide.