As we bid farewell to another year...

Here is a link to an Estonian New Year's song. It truly is such a beautiful language.

In true Estonian form, the lyrics are deep... spiritual-in-a-nondescript-sort-of-way... reverent and celebratory concerning life and relationship... and strangely worshipful of nebulous ideas like "the new" and "the love we share."

Estonians, I think, are having to re-learn how to worship the God they knew before their Soviet occupation. They remain deeply "spiritual," yet they are fiercely proud and independent and Eesti-centric, and their spirituality is often not directed upward but inward.

So while I reject the idea to, "Let all the new be our guiding light," I love the idea that, "The mystery of the new is tender and gentle when we greet it with a warm embrace."

Who knows what this new year will bring?

But I know Him who holds my future in His hands, and so I can lean into my unknown future with hope and trust.

The day we see today is new
As we bid farewell to another year

We let our memories be good and true
Celebrating the moment, embracing the new

The bright light of the new shines for all of us
Filled with hope, promise, and the unexpected

The mystery of the new is tender and gentle
When we greet it with a warm embrace

A Happy New Year we wish you all today
Let all the new be our guiding light

Happy New Year!
The love we share will find a way
To fill each new day through dark and light