So here we are at the beginning of a new year, hoping for the best in the weeks and months ahead. Some will have good feelings about the year just ended, falling in love, a new baby, a recovery of health perhaps, a year to remember with gratitude.
For others it will be a year not easily forgotten for other reasons, an “annus horribilis”, as the late Queen Elizabeth described 1992, a year when her family had its problems. CS Lewis said: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” So we enter 2024 with hope, which the Greek philosopher Thale claimed is “the only good that is common to all men; those who have nothing else possess hope still”.
Tomorrow’s liturgy draws attention to another beginning: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth ... ” This is not a scientific account of creation, but rather a poetic representation of the amazing evolutionary process by which animals, plant life and humans came into being. David Attenborough reminds us that “the world is full of wonders, but they become more wonderful, not less wonderful, when science looks at them”. But the great questions remain, of origin and purpose.
Despite all the awful things going on in the world, it is arguable that the good outweighs the bad
Faith takes us there believing that we cannot not live in the presence of the creator: we have no choice in the matter, according to these words attributed to St Patrick: “God beneath you, God in front of you, God behind you, God above you, God within you.”
‘Is that your wife? You should be ashamed’: a charity collector’s anti-immigrant hate in south Dublin
Local history: From William Orr and the not-so-united Irishmen to a box of underwear labelled ‘ass sizes’
Owen Doyle: Ireland must ensure Scott Barrett’s claim about Joe McCarthy is not swept under the carpet
Booker Prize 2024: who do you think will win?
Later in Genesis, beyond tomorrow’s passage, we are told: “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” This suggests that each one of us, no matter how small or insignificant, is part of something that is “very good”. Not only that, but elsewhere (three times) we are told that we are made in the image and likeness of God.
The fourth-century saint Gregory of Nyssa said: “Know to what extent the creator has honoured you above all the rest of creation. The sky is not an image of God, nor is the moon, nor the sun, nor the beauty of the stars, nor anything of what can be seen in creation. You alone have been made the image of the reality that transcends all understanding, the likeness of imperishable beauty, the imprint of true divinity, the recipient of the attitude, the seal of the true light. When you turn to him you become that which he is himself.”
This has implications for our self-understanding, further enriched by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ who showed us what it means be fully and truly human and our capacity to do real good. Despite all the awful things going on in the world, it is arguable that the good outweighs the bad. Just think of carers, doctors and nurses, teachers, social workers, clergy, peace workers in war zones and aid workers in famine areas and, of course, the ordinary everyday good neighbour. The list is endless, all glimpses of the image of God reflected in ordinary lives. So much to be grateful for.
The word “gratitude” brings to mind a wonderful lady I once knew. Mabel had grown up in a world of wealth and privilege, but it all came to an end with the premature death of her father and the loss of the family home and business. Although her circumstances deteriorated over the years, she was always cheerful and generous. In her 90s, she moved to a nursing home, and I recall a conversation with her shortly before she died. She talked about the death of her father and the difficulties that followed, so I asked if she felt bitter about the loss of those happy times. She looked straight at me and said: “Some people grieve for the things they once had. I rejoice that I had them.” A positive thought for a new beginning.