I just read about some crazy ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve. For some people, looking for the hottest party in town to count down seems too status quo. Instead, they want to do something nutty, like skydiving out of a plane at midnight, or taking a plunge into the bone-chilling waters of Boston Harbor, or joining more than 60,000 people in Venice’s San Marco Square who lock lips in the world’s largest communal kiss. Really?

I have a different take on end-of-year traditions. I confess to you in advance, I have a melancholy trait I will indulge now and then. For example, when I was fourteen, in the throws of middle school angst, my sisters and a few of our friends were setting off fireworks in the street on the 4th of July. Everyone was laughing and shouting, and having a great time. But then the “Charlie Brown” slipped out. “It is just like the world” I sighed, “a brief flash of light, and then it is over with so quickly…” I sure know how to have a good time, don’t I?

So my apologies in advance if this comes off a bit heavy and puts a damper on your mood…but welcome to how my brain works!

Woody Allen and I have some things in common. He expressed this outlook in one of his earlier films, Hannah and Her Sisters. Early on in the film there is some suspicion he has a brain tumor.

“It’s over…” he panics, “I am face to face with eternity, not later…but now! I’m so frightened. I can’t move, or speak, or breathe.”

Just then, his doctor walks in with test results.

“Well, you are just fine. There’s absolutely nothing here at all.”

When he finds out he’s ok, he leaves the hospital; he’s running and jumping through the street, and then, he stops. He realizes, I’m not going to die from this brain tumor now, but I’m going to die someday.

So whether or not you have big plans for tonight, it is an appropriate time to reflect on some things before you skydive out of that plane or take the icy dive into those freezing cold waters.

It’s been said, “Those who are prepared to die are most prepared to live.”

So today, I look back over the last 12 months and, in a “sobering” exercise, ask myself these hard questions.

If this were not just the end of the year, but the end of my life, would I thank God for how I lived it?

  • Did I grow in my understanding of who God is?
  • Did I love Him more?
  • Did I joyfully serve Him?
  • Was I faithful to my relationships to my husband, children, friends, and ministry?
  • Was I more attached to “stuff” that doesn’t last?
  • Was I more forgiving of those who hurt me?
  • Was I a faithful steward with all that I am blessed with…my possessions, my health, my time?

Now, go celebrate!
Why? Because of the fact that we can take all our regrets to the cross. Go celebrate the truth that forgiveness and a new beginning is promised to all who repent. Go celebrate the assurance that the Holy Spirit will continue to teach us, never leave us, and will see us through…for one more day, hopefully one more year!

Most likely, this is just the end of a year, but the end of our lives are one year closer… Let’s be able next year to thank God for how we lived it.