The New Year is the traditional time for good intentions, usually manifested in the form of resolutions for self-improvement, ranging from the prosaic (e.g., losing weight or stopping smoking) to the esoteric (e.g., mastering Mandarin Chinese).  The reasons for this probably have more to do with the winter solstice than religious observance, as the shortest day of the year falls on December 21 or 22, after which the days begin to lengthen and the seasons begin to reverse, bringing renewal and rebirth.  In most of the world, the feasting and celebrating come to a close with the New Year, New Orleans’ Mardi Gras notwithstanding.  For good reason, it just feels like the right time to change one’s habits for the better. 

Tending towards the prosaic, I have often resolved to lose weight beginning in January, with varying results.  This typically follows a holiday season of indulgence, with a common holiday exchange with my wife proceeding as follows: She - “Just how fat are you going to get?”  Me - “Just a little fatter.”  She is never amused.  The conventional wisdom is that one should adopt a weight loss program which one can comfortably maintain, but this requires alteration of one’s comfort zone, particularly in south Louisiana where we live to eat, rather than eat to live.  Matthew’s Gospel tells us that “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”; with respect to dieting in south Louisiana, the spirit is weak and the flesh is weaker.  Nevertheless, many of us will again be resolving to lose weight and improve our general physical condition.

Perhaps the most worthy resolutions are those that affect the well-being of others.  Interestingly, these often embody correction of the seven deadly sins identified by Christianity, to-wit: anger, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony.  Of these, pride is acknowledged as the worst, as the one from which the others arise.  Dante Alighieri defined pride as "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor,” and it is easy to imagine the vices which naturally follow.  However, banal examples of the destructive power of pride abound in everyday life.  How many of us harbor hurt feelings that are rooted in pride; how many close relationships have been destroyed by the unwillingness of either side to make the first move towards reconciliation?  These feelings seem to be intensified during the Christmas holidays, which are a traditional time for families and friends to come together.  What better time to address them than during the renewal and rebirth of the New Year?  

Examples of this would be resolutions to be a better spouse and/or parent, resolve disputes, right wrongs and forgive those who have wronged us.  These would seem to be easier than losing weight or stopping smoking, involving “merely” an exercise of the will, rather than mortification of the flesh (aka dieting).  However, nothing worthwhile is as easy as it seems, and this is no exception.  In fact, changing a mindset rooted in pride may be among life’s most difficult challenges.  For example, consider the “decision” to not be angry any longer, or to have no more hurt feelings.  Despite the best of intentions, these feelings will not disappear by a mere act of will.  Similarly, I have wrestled with the concept of human forgiveness.  Saying that I had forgiven another did not take away the anger or hurt feelings, no matter how much I wanted it to or hoped that it would.  Subconsciously, negative feelings remained, until the intervention of a higher power.  For these feelings to disappear, a something beyond my conscious will was required.   I prayed for God to give me the grace to forgive others, just as I asked God to forgive my own transgressions.  This is a crucial element of the Lord’s Prayer, as we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us . . . .”  In every case, positive change has come, although not always as quickly as I would have liked.  I’m reminded of a memorable line from the movie Rudy: “We pray in our time; God answers in his.”  In my case, when it happened, it was sudden and complete.  Resolutions to moderate our pride such that relationships can be healed do work, although they require prayer and patience.  Atheists may seek to explain this in another way, but I cannot.

I am convinced that each of us can make the world a better place, even if only within our small sphere of human relationships.  Emotions are contagious, and positive feelings have a way of spreading.  This is the value and power of New Year’s resolutions, as they remind us that the only way to guarantee failure is to not try and do better than we did last year.