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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop John Inge

Good morning.

Anyone listening to this either went to bed before midnight or didn’t get much sleep. Whichever, a very Happy New Year to you.

New Year’s resolutions tend to divide opinion: people are either very committed to them, at the beginning of the year, at any rate, or they can’t abide them. The proverbial Marmite effect.

Whatever our attitude, what lies behind them – the invitation to reflect on what’s important, is surely worth considering. Clergy have a habit of going on retreat: a period of time used to pray and study quietly, or to think carefully, away from normal activities and duties of parish life: I was once given a task on retreat: to write my own obituary. At first I thought it rather macabre but as I got into it I found it a really helpful exercise: it enabled me to reflect on what it’s worth spending time on and what it is not; what I really care about and what I don’t; what is worth fighting for and what is not; what I would want to be remembered for. It put things into a helpful perspective as I tried to reflect on my life. I commend it, even if you don’t feel it’s quite the thing for New Year’s Day itself.

Loving God, give me grace to make good use of the time given to me here on earth.
In this coming year, give me the wisdom to know how best to use my time, my talents, my energy and my resources.
Help me to discern what it’s worth spending time on and what it is not; what I really care about and what I don’t; what it’s worth fighting for and what it is not.

Amen.