Send a flare into the night
Say a prayer, turn the tide
Dry your tears and wave goodbye
Step into a new day
We can rise up from the dust and walk away
We can dance upon our heartache, yeah
So, light a match, leave the past, burn the
ships
And don't you look back…"
-- For King & Country
At the close of every year, I turn contemplative.
I’ve been that way since I was in elementary school when on Christmas night I
would crawl into bed, weighted down with a feeling of heaviness and sadness
that the old year was passing. Thankfully, I learned to also look forward to
the new year, anticipating its joys and its lessons. Still, I find that when a
new year dawns, it takes me a few days, sometimes weeks, to work through my
adjustment process. I review the previous year, analyzing it and trying to
determine how I can grow in the new year.
And while I don’t establish resolutions, I do
set new year’s goals, usually spiritual, relational, and health ones. For the
last handful of years, I’ve also tried to choose a Bible verse to set the tone
for the year and to provide direction or a vision for me. I ask God to be at
the center of the endeavor, hoping He will give me His wisdom and guidance. I
haven’t gotten very far in the process yet for 2020, but I have been meditating
on the song “Burn the Ships” by For King & Country.
The song title and chorus are based on the
idea that some European explorers and ancient military leaders, once they
reached their destinations, would supposedly destroy their ships in an effort
to keep their men from deserting when challenges arose. The spiritual metaphor
is easy to establish and has been used by numerous pastors and Christian
leaders, for Christ calls us to leave behind all we know and hold dear in order
to follow Him. If we truly wish to become His disciples, we figuratively have
to burn the ships that would take us away from Him, back to our old lives. After
all, it is difficult to move forward if you are constantly looking back.
