In the Beginning

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared.  Thus we know this is the last hour.   1 John 2:18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.  What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1:1-4

Piety

Whoever you are, therefore,
who are hastening to the heavenly homeland,
fulfill with the help of Christ
this minimum Rule which we have written for beginners;
and then at length under God's protection
you will attain to the loftier heights of doctrine and virtue
which we have mentioned above.  Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 73

Study

Last day of the year…maybe the Church fathers are jumping the gun just a tad…in the beginning…INDEED!  The first reading had it right…this is the last hour, no?

There is a somewhat modern version of the Rule of St. Benedict that Deacon Jim Bayne likes to pass around entitled, “Always, We Begin Again.”

Begin…Before.

Yes…we have to wait one more day for the start of the new calendar year.  Yes, we have to wait one more day for the re-start of the cycle of readings from the Benedictine Rule. However, one thing is certain on the last day of the year and the first day…and that is we are asked to put God’s will BEFORE all others.  Before our own.  Before our bosses.’  Before our children.  Before our parents.  Before ABCCBSCNNNBC.  Before Wall Street.  Before Hollywood and Vine. Before K Street.  Before Apple.  And even before Toyota, Lexus or Volkswagen and the soon-to-be concluded December-to-Remember/Sign Then Drive Sales.

Every day and every minute allows us a chance to begin anew.  We do not need a new month in the Gregorian calendar to turn over a new leaf.

Action

Temperance might be the best action for a day that sometimes – although not among loyal readers of Your Daily Tripod – might be inclined to excess food or drink in the celebrations of the New Year’s Eve.  Make your night, and the night of those around you, a safe and happy celebration and a symbol of your year ahead.