Go ahead, admit it. You’ve already started your list of New Year’s Resolutions.

You know you will forget them by January 15.

I’m preparing for a jump in attendance in my Yoga class next week.

Of course, by the end of January attendance will be pretty much where it has been.

Resolving that “I will be healthier this year” or “I will weigh a health 1XX pounds” won’t do it.

Deciding on one or two new habits will make the change permanent.

Tomorrow morning I will make a breakfast of oatmeal with fruit. And the next morning. Maybe even laying out the bowl the night before. Do that for 30 days, and you will be moving on your way to a healthier and slimmer you.

Tomorrow morning I will get up and either go to the gym or the park and run/walk for 30 minutes. Do that for 30 days along with one change in eating, and you will have new habits and be on your way to health and fitness.

After a couple of months, you could say, for example, “since I am already at the gym to run or walk daily (maybe skipping weekends or something), I will add using the weight machines to firm up my muscles.”

Apply this to business. We never say, “I resolve to fail.” But perhaps you could change one habit. Maybe in how you compliment people. Maybe, if you are in sales, make it a habit that every day at 9 am I will make 10 sales calls. I don’t schedule meetings, I make calls. I add it to my calendar. Make it a habit.

Habits are a nice way of talking about disciplines. Rather than saying “I will grow spiritually,” say, “tomorrow morning I will get up 15 minutes earlier and read from the Bible (or other spiritual book) followed by meditating on the thought for 5 minutes.” Have a chair with the book on the table beside it. Get up, brew your coffee or tea, and sit down to do your spiritual work. After 30 days you will have a habit that everyone will notice.

Warning: Don’t try too many new habits all at once. You’ll be overwhelmed. One habit change can noticeably change your life.

A sad person to come across is one who has stopped learning.

A wise person whom I have long since forgotten proposed the inoculation theory of education. You have a little introduced into your system and then you are immune from it for the rest of your life.

Sadly, too many people resemble that remark.

Every day there is something new to learn.

Read with curiosity looking for the new insight.

Avoid “group think” and read contrary views.

When I was 20, I read an argument of Karl Marx’s about how the Industrial Revolution has caused an alienation of humans from their work. No longer craftsmen, humans became cogs in a machine of production.

150 years down the road, we still have a lot of that.

I’ve outlined a book bringing that idea forward. I think the first sentence will be “when everyone else thinks x, then it is time to consider y.” I will continue to learn how humans are employing their brains and hands to develop things. We don’t have to be cogs. There is a new way.

Ask why. Read a book or ten on the subject. Ask why about each of them.

Ask why about God. Then study and meditate. And ask why some more. It’s not sacrilegious. God gave us the facility. If we want to learn more, then we have to ask more.

Make it not a New Year’s Resolution. Make it a way of life.

I hated that word.

As an adolescent, I translated that word into meaning an external force telling me what to do.

That is probably typical for that stage of growth. Especially when you grew up with discipline as a reaction rather than a way of life.

Some would say I matured. But I discovered that without some sort of discipline in my life, I was not going to finish college.

As I read the spiritual fathers and mothers of various faiths, I discovered spiritual disciplines that take the concept to the next level.

It is simply a practice of doing certain things for certain outcomes.

There, I just substituted the word practice. I could also say habits intentionally developed.

I decided to grow my mind and intellect. I have the practice of reading–a lot.

I decided to grow spiritually. I have the practices of study and meditation.

I decided to have as healthy a physical body as possible. I have the practices of going to the gym, exercising, Yoga. The nutrition part is still a work in process 😉

These are just examples. I’m not telling you what to do. I don’t like someone telling me what to do, and I don’t like telling others what to do or believe.

But perhaps we could all look into ways of improving our inner disciplines in the coming year. A little at a time.

We hurry through December hurtling into Christmas.

Christmas Day is now behind us. Time to hurry into New Year’s Day. Or Eve. With the parties, contrived or real.

Maybe we pause amidst the football of the week to compose a list of Resolutions.

We want to be better.

If we accomplished the Resolutions, perhaps we would be better. Healthier. Stronger. Smarter. More popular.

Then we get into the hurry of the year.

The gyms after being packed for the first two or three weeks of January will return to normal as people return to old habits and forget their resolutions.

This is a good time to pause. Reflect on the past year. Determine our opportunities for the new year.

Pick one habit to replace an old one.

Maybe I add one food to my normal diet and replacing a sugary food.

Maybe I join a fitness class that I’ll actually go to as I build a habit of health.

Maybe I get up 15 minutes earlier and read something refreshing for the spirit or nourishing for the mind.

Maybe I replace hurry for creative pauses.

I hope Christmas was good for you. Pause and enjoy. Then go on.

Pete Seeger’s banjo head. (Photo from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)

Sometimes we Christians do not exhibit the virtues that the gospel writers told us about Jesus’ birth. Jesus came, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

Peace on earth and goodwill toward our fellow humans.

Merry Christmas

The “Chipmunks” sang, “Hurry Christmas, don’t be late; we’ve been good, but we can’t wait.”

As I remember Christmas Eve when a child, it was the cruelest of days. There were a few presents under the tree. We’d sung carols at church. We were ready for Santa Claus to come with many more presents. He was almost here, but not quite.

In the moment between expectation and realization is the waiting.

Waiting needs patience. Few children exhibit that discipline.

We grow up and many adults never matured to learn patience.

It’s that gap between what we think we know and what is real.

Savor the moment. Tomorrow comes and then the next day and the feeling passes.

But today, it’s about expectation.

Here it is. The day with the least amount of sunlight. Or put another way, the longest night of the year.

Ancient peoples tracking the movement of the sun living a hard life gathering food must have wondered how bad it would get.

And then by four days later they felt assured that indeed the days were getting longer. With confidence they faced the future of spring and its rebirth and summer with its growth and abundant food.

We may be more sophisticated in our modern age. But we’re still affected. Less daylight means less Vitamin D means reduced energy. Circumstances in the world appear to be bleak.

Yet, we have confidence in the coming rebirth.

This all has spiritual connotation as well as physical.

God-fearing people 2,000 years ago, and for about 400 years before, wondered if it was the dark night of God’s withdrawal from his people. They anticipated a rebirth. Hoped for it. Longed for it.

2,000 years ago was a time of great spiritual movement throughout the world.

How are we doing today? Ready for renewal? Ready with assurance for the coming spring?

We are waiting for Christmas.

The anticipation begins sometime about 30 days before.

It’s hard to maintain focus for 30 days.

It’s hard to maintain focus this morning.

I sat down with a piece of toast with peanut butter and honey and a cup of coffee. Noticed that WordPress had issued an update. It requested that I update my other site. So, my focus changed. Is this site updated? Have they changed the editor here? What do I need to do?

30 minutes later…oh, yes, focus on writing.

When I have trouble focusing for 30 seconds, how can I expect to maintain an active watchful focus for 30 days?

A trail of reminders throughout the day helps. Maybe that’s the purpose of placing stuff around the house. A tree here, nativity set there, colored lights, candles. Reminders…oh, yeah, focus on the person, the baby.

Now, where did I put my coffee?

Are we all so uptight all the time?

Ready to take offense at the slightest word even taken out of context?

Far be it from me to defend our current President. But he used a common phrase used to describe an investigation you don’t like. It’s a “witch hunt”, he said.

Guess what group of people is now grievously offended? Witches, of course.

I keep returning to James’ advice (Jesus’ brother, one of whose letters survived into the Bible).

You must remember this, let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.

Let me help. How are you doing on the Relaxation (478) Breath? Practice twice a day at least. Calm down. Seek perspective.

• Sit, lay, or stand. If sitting or standing, do not slouch.
• Inhale through nose and count to 4 (your own pace, gradually slowing with practice).
• Hold breath for count of 7 (same pace as inhale).
• Exhale through the mouth and count 8.
• Rest briefly.
• Repeat for four cycles.

One thing I like about December. My early morning study and meditation in the living room with only the Christmas tree for illumination. My wife lovingly hangs about a thousand ornaments on the tree. But I like the light.

I remember the great anticipation of Christmas as a child. But it was more about Santa Claus than Jesus.

Jesus was there–the annual church Christmas play or the times we did a live nativity or the Carols.

So much “Christmas music” we hear today is more about the season than Jesus.

I’m not knocking it. It brings joy to many.

Then there are the misconceptions of the Christmas story from the Gospels.

Jesus wasn’t born on December 25.

There was no motel. It was someone’s house–probably a relative.

The number of Magi (wise men) was most likely not equal to three. (Nice song, though.)

But Jesus was born. He did teach and heal. He did die and return to life. Despite all the ornamentation humans have put around his birth and life, I like the light.