A message for the new year from the CEO

A practice of mine is to begin the New Year with meaningful words to serve as inspiration and guideposts for living the coming year with a fresh perspective. 

Past years have been influenced by: Be. Still. Know. and Respect. Carpe (Seize). Welcome.

Last year, I expanded my ritual to focus on brief phrases: 

• Choose Your Hard 
• Chase the Good 
• Seek the Solve 

As I approach 2024, I am inspired by one simple, provocatively poignant word. Light. 

I came across the word in a quote by the 13th-century poet and scholar, Rumi. Simple in its elegance. Profound in its simple encouragement. I am making it my personal message for 2024 and beyond. 

If Everything Around You Seems Dark— Look Again, You May Be The Light. 

Indulge me with some added emphases: 

If Everything Around You Seems Dark— Look Again—and Again, and Again, if Needed. 

Even if the Darkness might appear to be overwhelming, even winning—Let us NOT stop our search for Light!! We owe ourselves that Grace. We owe others that potential moment for Salvation. 

You May Be The Light—The Only Source of Light for the world around us—however little; however vast. 

Not that we are the “be-all; end-all.” Rather, we are the way—sometimes the only way—God will speak Light to a Dark corner of the world. We will be an instrument through which God will act as Light to the enclosing Darkness. We must be the Presence so that God can illuminate the Dark soul of despair, uncertainty, and fear. 

We are all called to be God’s Light unto the world. 

I am a proponent of reading various versions of the Bible, and I am partial to Eugene Peterson’s The Message. I hope these passages speak to you as they have to me. 

God, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, calls us to be Light. 

Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). 

How can we ever be Light? 

Jesus once again addressed them: “I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.” (John 8:12). 

In the coming new year, I pray that Darkness will not be present to any of us; our loved ones; our friends; our neighbors; even our enemies and strangers. Yet, when we do encounter Darkness in its many forms, coming in waves, and changing in numerous ways, I pray for the courage to LOOK. BE. LIGHT. in the larger world and for each other. Amen. 

Michelle and I pray God’s blessings upon your bright and warm experience of this Holiday Season and for a wonderful start to the New Year. Together, we will radiate Covenant Village as the place Where Life is Filled with Promise!