2020 A Year Like Any Other
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
2020 was a year like any other—unpredictable, memorable and full of all the emotions that a person can feel—joy, sorrow, love, fear, surprise, anger and gratitude, to name a few. Granted, some emotions probably were felt more often than others, but that is usually the way it is anyway, right?
Actually, I feel sorry for the year 2020. Many people talk as if it was the year itself that caused most of the problems which occurred. I heard comments like, “What else will 2020 throw at us?” and (sometime during the summer) “I will be so glad when this year is over!” and even a joke “I refuse to change my clock back. I don’t want to add an extra hour to 2020.” I will admit, last year was not without it’s challenges, and I am certainly not trying to downplay all that happened, but is it not true that every year has it’s faults and problems? And is it not also true that some of the things that have happened last year were actually good?
”In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.” Ecclesiastes 7:14
When you look at a year—any year—you probably can think of at least one thing that was sad, scary and upsetting. Maybe you lost your job or someone close to you was diagnosed with cancer. But at the same time, if you think some more, was there something good that happened during that same year? Perhaps you welcomed a new baby into your family or you had an amazing time on that dream vacation.
Looking globally, the pandemic has hit countries all over the world, but this is not the only event that has affected the entire planet. September 11th and the start of both World Wars, are examples of events that had an impact all over this great planet.
At the same time, while these tragedies were going on, I believe that great and wonderful things were also happening—the human spirit seemed to blossom and come together in our greatest time of need. People helped, encouraged, and tried to do as much as they could for each other. Last year, for example, our church, The Church at Severn Run, along with many other places, started a Food Pantry, which relied on people donating not only food but also their time. Signs went up all over thanking the medical staff and essential workers for what they were doing during the shutdown and they continue to do today. ZOOM, and other meeting platforms, were great ways for people to still be together (while being apart).
Last month I was on one such ZOOM meeting and I asked everyone to think of something good that happened in 2020. Several people said that they got to be able to spend some quality time with the family instead of rushing to get the kids to different sports or music lessons or having a host of meetings that would have taken them away from their family. Another popular answer was “attending” events that they probably would not have been able to do if things were the so-called “normal”.
Every New Year’s Day, I like to make of list of things I want to accomplish. I don’t call them resolutions, though. According to BING, a resolution is “a firm decision to do or not do something.” I always thought of it as a promise that one made to do something (keep the house clean) or stop doing something (eat less junk food), and if you failed to keep the resolution, you broke that promise. Instead, the list I make is more like the hopes and dreams of what I would like to do throughout the year. At the close of each year, I go over the list to see exactly how much I did and what other things I did that had not made it to the original list.
See, while living life, things happen. Unexpected things. In 2020, it was the COVID-19 Pandemic. Totally did not expect that. But while we were in lockdown, I did do some things on my list (dishes were done regularly), did not do other things (go to Hawaii), and did some things which never even made it to the list (painted the walls of my office).
What about you? Look back over last year and think—what did you hope to do that you actually got to do? What did you want to do that never happened (I kind of expect this list to be longer than normal)? And what did you accomplish that you had not thought would have happened a year ago?
I thought about calling this blog “2020—A Glass Half Empty or A Glass Half Full?” but I think that was a bit long. It is true, though. Many people have looked at 2020 with a glass half empty mentality—the Pandemic, among other problems, made last year a real bummer. But if you turn your perspective a bit, the glass can be half full with more positive moments than you might think.
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8
Here is hoping that 2021 will be a more full and less empty year for you.
TLB