by David Bates
Mine is to think more about what New Year really means. You always hear people talking about finding the true meaning of Christmas, a meaning that gets obfuscated amidst the wrapping paper and constant bustling. Well, what about the New Year? I believe there’s a deeper meaning to this holiday, too. And just like Christmas, I feel too many people (myself included) gloss over the deeper significance of this time of the year. Lots of us jump into the New Year wanting to make big changes and we go about it in an unproductive way that ends in failure.
Throughout this past year, I thought a fair amount about the word “unconditional.” I’ve heard it mostly associated with love, as in “unconditional love.” Perhaps this is the love a mother has for her child, or, as I like to think about it, the love God has for me. It’s unconditional. Under any circumstance or in any situation this love is present. That’s quite a statement. I could act pretty bad—make poor choices—and still God would love me.
The author of Psalms 139 sets up a list of conditions to test that love. He asks, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” No matter the circumstance—whether you’re living in heavenly harmony or thinking destructive, hellish thoughts; whether you’re taking the “wings of the morning” and feeling good about life or dwelling in the “uttermost parts of the sea.” No matter what you’ve done or where you are in life, the Bible has a promise, “Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
To me, one of the best things about this agreement is that not only is the love unconditional, but the time and place we decide to accept this love is also unrestricted. At any moment we can halt wrongdoing, feel embraced by unconditional love, and proceed from that point forward with the best of intentions. Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures says, “If you believe in and practise wrong knowingly, you can at once change your course and do right.”
I believe this concept of unconditional love gives direction to my quest of defining the spirit of New Year’s. Too many New Year’s resolutions are based on guilt. “Oh, I’m too out of shape.” Or, “Oh, I’ve gotten myself into such a rut this past year.” I’ve found what’s great about unconditional love is that it makes you guiltless! Just like in Mrs. Eddy’s quote, we can at once change our course—guilt-free.
This makes me think about innocence and Mrs. Eddy’s definition of baptism in Science and Health, “Purification by Spirit; submergence in Spirit.” Spirit is another name for God, and I feel baptized (submerged in Spirit, in Love) through the good I do and during moments when I realize my natural, guiltless state as a perfect child of God. I also feel baptized when I put that God-given good into action by helping people, by feeling inspired, and by praying.
Unconditional love and spiritual renewal-now I think I’m beginning to see what New Year’s means to me. Because I’m held to the standard of perfect Love, Spirit, then I’m free to have fresh, spiritual regeneration—day by day—throughout the whole year. If I absolutely believe this, then I’ll see how I truly am free—guiltless—because I’m living by the standard of Truth, which is God, and then my actions naturally conform to this standard. (If God loves me unconditionally and I know I’m in this love, then how can any other action but love, proceed out of me?)
And in reality, aren’t we always held by this standard of Love and Truth? Aren’t we always submerged in Spirit? So I guess part of my New Year’s resolution is to find out how true this reasoning is and how much we really are in God’s unconditional love, no matter what dismal picture may be in front of us. Every time we reason rightly, we have a regenerated sense of being—and our own personal New Year’s celebration.
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Unconditional love and spiritual renewal — great things to think about! Thank you.
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