By Dick Hahn of Sandia Park, New Mexico USA

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah spoke of the peaceable kingdom to come— “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” We remember the church seal with just the one word, PEACE, on it.

Being church includes a rich heritage. We are not called, however, to dwell in the past. As witnesses of God’s goodness, we are called to envision the future and live on “the point of human history”—between the “no longer” and the “not yet.”

Take a moment and think of all your blessings received since childhood. Remember and cherish them. But at the start of a new year, let’s move on with these blessings into a new future.

We must not dwell in the past. We live out the mission initiatives today, pointing toward the future. We are called to be witnesses every new day of every new year.

Our Lord Jesus rarely spoke about yesterday, but he did say, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:34). This may be his way of saying: Be in mission today and every day. We cannot go back to yesterday, nor live in the future. Today is the ministry opportunity that deserves our focus.

Prayer Phrase

“…he has given us a new birth into a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3).

Spiritual Practice

Weaving a Life

Hold, or imagine yourself holding, a piece of patterned cloth. Examine it carefully. Notice overlapping threads mingling colors that form the design. Write a journal entry or meditate about the threads and patterns of your life. What design do you see? How does the life pattern you are weaving create justice and wholeness in God’s world? What new pattern is God calling you to weave in 2025?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.