The Old and The New

Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

We live in a society that’s obsessed with having what’s newer, better, faster, prettier, higher, bigger, smaller, shinier, fresher, cooler, fancier, so on and so forth. Rarely do we take time to appreciate what we have…mainly because there’s so much new and improved stuff coming out every minute that we don’t get the chance. Now we’re in a New Year, and people are trying to figure out how to make 2006 better than 2005, but why are we so eager to leave behind the past for the future? Perhaps we could learn something from the Christmas story in a passage that is often quickly passed over in Luke chapter two.

Contentment seems to be something that’s lacking in our modern lives. We’re so conditioned to want whatever the latest item is, we never get a chance to enjoy what we have. I have a friend who in past year or so has owned at least five dozen different iPods. Okay…so maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but it seems like every time a new one comes out, they’re instantly dissatisfied with they one they have because it isn’t quite “good enough” anymore. As we all know, an iPod that holds five million songs isn’t nearly as convenient as one that holds every song ever composed by human society, and that one isn’t nearly as convenient as an iPod that can also communicate with distant space satellites in order to locate the nearest Starbucks. That’s just common sense. I have another friend who often buys video games that are never opened. I’ll ask “How are you enjoying that new game” and they’ll say “I haven’t opened it yet because there’s this other game coming out that I want and if I don’t open this one I can get full store credit for the other one so I can trade it in for this other game that’s coming out that I don’t really want to play but can sell on e-Bay.” Silly me, and here I thought games were for playing, not a new form of currency for commodity. Any way, these things and many more signal to me a lack of contentment in our lives. I certainly am not immune to this disease. I too catch the “gotta have the latest release/gizmo/shiny-object” syndrome.

At times, I can become so obsessed that I’ll drive my wife crazy with my constant ramblings about this new whatever that I must have, and even though she’ll quite thoughtfully point out that I really don’t need this item but simply want it, and even though she’ll come up with several sensible and logical reasons why it would be good to wait, I can still be so single-minded and talk about nothing else to the point that she’ll eventually yell out “WOULD YOU JUST GET IT ALREADY SO I CAN HAVE A NORMAL CONVERSATION WITH YOU!” Not exactly the best way to enjoy a happy and successful marriage (which despite my many shortcomings I believe we have due to God’s grace…and the grace of my wife.)

Of course when a new year comes around, this lack of contentment seems to be even more prevalent. People start making resolutions to change the things about themselves they don’t like (usually weight and never attitude, which is too bad because I know a lot of perfectly fit jerks). Or they’ll look to the promise of what a new year will bring so far as technology, convenience, or finances may go. For many, the year past is best forgotten, and the clean slate of the New Year and the opportunity to start over lifts the burden of knowing so many opportunities in the past year were missed and so many promises went unfulfilled. But is that all the old year is good for? Just to be forgotten, to be wiped away as though it never happened? Do we truly need to treat life’s experiences like we do our many gadgets; always looking for the latest and never appreciating the current? Well, Mary didn’t think so, and I think we can learn a lot from that one simple verse in the second chapter of Luke.

The year that Mary bore Jesus probably wasn’t the greatest one of her life. Consider the fact that she was a young, unwed woman who was promised to be married to a man named Joseph but who was carrying a child that wasn’t her fiancé’s. Imagine the scandal, the talk that would take place surrounding such circumstances. Think of the disappointing clucks, the dirty looks, the superior, huffy attitudes, and the ridicule that would have been directed at Mary. Then think of that long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem as a pregnant woman ready to pop.

Even in today’s modern world, traveling as a pregnant woman isn’t comfortable (I don’t know from personal experience, mind you, but I have traveled with a pregnant woman who made it explicitly clear that she was uncomfortable), so imagine what the roughly 100 mile journey must have been like on a donkey, only to arrive and find out that the best accommodations are a lowly stable. Then think of giving birth amongst the straw, pungent smells and unsanitary conditions of a poorly lit grotto. Imagine what it must have been like to be visited by complete strangers, strangers who probably looked and smelled like men you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley alone; lowly shepherds whom most people probably treated or ignored like we do those people with the cardboard signs on street corners. Yes, that year was quite a year for young Mary, and if there’s anyone who could have looked forward to “a new start” and “wiping the slate clean”, it would have been her.

However, we’re told that Mary treasured up all these things in her heart and pondered them; why? I believe it’s because she knew God was doing something special in the midst of her chaotic year. I believe she knew, although she may not have fully understood, that her baby was special and that God was doing a great work through her, even in the midst of all the challenges and difficulties. I think she realized just how exciting it was to be a part of God’s plan, and she wanted cherish that experience in her heart for her entire life, even if that experience wasn’t always pleasant, or comfortable, or what she wanted. There were great times ahead, but God was also doing something great at that moment, in that year, and Mary knew there was no need to rush forward without properly appreciating what God had done, and was doing even know.

 Mary could have resolved to set right all the rumors about her reputation and her pregnancy. She could have resolved to make sure she would never have to give birth in a barn ever again. She could have resolved to make sure she’d never have to travel again, or to associate with a better class of people instead of shepherds. After the year she had, she could have resolved to do so many things to improve the future, but instead of looking forward to what she would change, she treasured and she pondered.

What a lesson for 2006. As this New Year dawns, what will you do with the old one? Will you rush forward and do your best to erase any remnant of the year past? Will you resolve to change everything you didn’t like about 2005 in 2006? Or will you take the time to look back on 2005 to find the things that God has done in your life? Will you look upon the lessons learned and trials endured to treasure and ponder them as you seek more of God in your life? Will you count your many blessings and name them one by one, giving thanks to Father for all He has done? Just like Mary, you are a part of God’s plan; what a precious thing to cherish each and every year. Before the old gives way to the new, make sure you take hold of all that is precious and worthy from 2005 so that it might enrich your 2006. There’s no need to start all over when we can continually build on what has already been done. After all, if we’re constantly starting over, we’re never going to get anywhere. Happy New Year.

Johann "Yo" Snyder is the host of the Mid-day show at M88 radio, 88.3FM in Albuquerque, NM. He writes a monthly blog that takes some elements of current events and pop culture to illustrate spiritual points. The archives for these articles can be found at: http://www.m88.org/yothoughts.asp