As I sit in my local Barnes & Noble coffee shop on the last day of 2022, I’m keenly aware of how much hope a seemingly new start gives people.

For example, there are the moms pushing strollers and exclaiming (rather loudly) how happy they are that “this year is finally over.”

There’s the table of older folks reminiscing about all the New Year’s Eves they’ve navigated, with stories about their most memorable experiences.

And then there’s the young couple sweetly talking about how “great next year will be.”

No matter their age, and irregardless of whether they voice unhappiness with the past year, they all buzz with a seeming excitement for the future.

We all want the hope of a new tomorrow and somehow the changing of a calendar page offers this to us.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s so much that we believe the coming year has anything uniquely new to offer us; it’s that we long to leave the unwanted, unexpected and unenjoyable behind. And the closing of a year feels like the perfect box to pack all our troubles into. Maybe that’s why the writer of Ecclesiastes said,

“The end of a thing is better than its beginning…”

Ecclesiastes 7:8a

But whether Solomon was excitedly anticipating the coming of a new year in his local coffee shop (which is precisely how I like to imagine it) or accessing Holy Spirit wisdom for writings to be read by future generations of believers, his statement resonates with us deeply.

As 2023 looms on the horizon with all its shining possibilities, take a minute to ask yourself what you want, or need, to leave in the past. And leave it there.

Then ring in the New Year with all the gusto you can!

Happy New Year, friends!!