Have you ever thought back over your life and found yourself wishing that you could "do it all over again?" Sometimes regret over past mistakes causes us to do this. (Who wouldn't want to have the benefit of hindsight so that we could avoid those mistakes?) Sometimes it is the result of nostalgia for an earlier, simpler, or happier time. (Who wouldn't want to repeat those experiences and relive those times which brought us the greatest joy?) And sometimes it is the realization of lost opportunities and missed chances. (Who wouldn't want to be able to change the direction our lives have taken ... for the better, or for the more successful?)

But we aren't granted the privilege of "doing it all over again." The poet expressed it well: "We pass this way but once." But there do come times when we are allowed to make "new beginnings."

One such time is when the calendar changes and a new year unfolds. Of course, it's only psychological. After all, the calendar as we know it is a human invention, and January (except for maybe being a bit colder) is pretty much like December or February. But there is something real, nonetheless, about a new year that can motivate us to begin anew. We can make "New Year's resolutions," with every intention of keeping them. We can, in fact and practice, change our habits and think and act differently. We can make momentous decisions that we have been avoiding or putting off ... decisions which might well change the course of our remaining life.

Another time we are allowed, and even encouraged, to make "new beginnings" is whenever we open our lives to God's Holy Spirit. It might be that first time we give ourselves to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and become, in Paul's words, "a new creation" in Christ. Or it might be anytime we ask God to enter our lives anew to change our attitudes toward God, the Church, or each other. It might be anytime we ask God to remove the guilt of our accumulated sins. Or it might be anytime we ask God to rekindle our love for and commitment to the Kingdom of God as expressed through our relationship with Jesus Christ.

As 2006 unfolds, could we not combine the emphases of the New Year and a personal rededication to Christ? I invite you, in the name of our Savior, to do just that. Resolve in 2006 to do the things you know God is calling you to do ... refrain from doing those things out-of-keeping with God's will ... and ask for the Holy Spirit to lead you, motivate you, and empower you to be a more faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.  If you do these things, I truly believe that 2006 will be a happier, more fulfilling, and more spiritually-productive year for you (even if we can't "do it all over again!")