Staying resolute despite calendar

We want to be more loving, and fall short. I view New Year’s

resolutions as natural expressions of profound aspiration, that is, a

rekindling of our deepest yearning to better express our genuine

self. In Zen, we use the image of polishing a diamond: the diamond is

beautiful as it is, but we shine it up so it will reflect its nature

even more clearly.

The cold weather, short days, reunions with family and friends,

the breaks in routine, more leisure time and all of the sacred

holidays of December naturally reconnect us with a universal vow to

grow, to bloom, to mature. Practicing with aspiration must be

frequent and regular, not a once-a-year thing if it is to be of much

value.

In my experience, resolutions without a supportive structure peter

out, whereas aspiration which is tested and resurrected after each

failure continues to teach us at ever-deeper levels. By contrast, if

“resolution” were viewed as a strong-willed person succeeding at

accomplishing his or her goals, a Zen Buddhist point of view would

regard this as working at the branches and not the root. I would also

note that a downside to making resolutions can be over-investment in

thinking about good intentions for the future rather than

experiencing the present moment, which may include the discomfort we

are attempting to escape by making resolutions.

The most fundamental resolution, or vow, for a Zen practitioner is

to live in awareness by using the tools of meditation and the support

of community. This will be most helpful in sticking with the

resolution, and naming it or reviewing it monthly might be useful for

some people -- we can be creative. I like writing a statement and

taping it to my bathroom mirror.

THE REV. DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

Keeping resolutions is a matter of discipline, not of calendars.

Christian heritage gives considerable emphasis to firmness of

resolve, that is, discipline. The anonymous Letter to the Hebrews,

particularly chapter 12, verses seven through 11, describes

discipline in the Lord. Discipline accepted “for God’s sake,” and

vows taken “in the Name of God” are most likely to be kept.

For example, in “The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage” (Book

of Common Prayer, pages 422-438), a man takes a woman to be his wife

and a woman takes a man to be her husband “In the Name of God ... .”

Keeping such resolve is likely to be enabled by remembering that

the vow was made in the name of the one from whom we all have come

and to whom we are all returning, the one who gives us all we have

including the wonder of life and the mystery of love, and remembering

that it was made in the presence of family and other beloveds and

with their support.

Remembering the date and other particulars under which the vow was

resolved is less likely to strengthen one for keeping the commitment

made (of course, I am a husband, and we are notorious for not even

remembering wedding anniversaries!)

In my Bible, I carry a card given long ago by one of my mentors;

it says, “Through discipline comes freedom!” This seems to me to be

what most New Year’s resolutions are about: freedom from the weighty,

freedom from the immobilizing, freedom from the incapacitating,

freedom from the debilitating, freedom from the boring. A time-tested

prayer for peace speaks of God “in whose service is perfect freedom.”

Resolutions are less likely to be keep-able if made in a name from

the calendar than they are when made in the name of God.

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

Saint Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

Does our Jan. 1 change of calendars meet a corresponding change in

us?

Much of religion is based on tradition, heritage,

generation-to-generation. We perform rituals and observe ceremonies

because that is the way it has always been. There is a comfort in the

continuity of custom. Here is something we can count on, a

predictable core of stability.

But life must be dynamic and embrace change. There is much good

that we do because it has always been that way. But there is much

that is not worthwhile to perpetuate just because we have always done

it that way.

Judaism never allows for complacency. In Hamlet, Shakespeare

writes, “We know what we are, but we know not what we may be.” George

Bernard Shaw remarked that the only intelligent man he knew was his

tailor, who would take a new measure of him every time he ordered a

new suit. The tailor would not assume, as did others, that he always

remained the same George Bernard Shaw.

David ben-Gurion was once asked by a young student, “Mr. Prime

Minister, what was the moment of greatest satisfaction in your life?”

He answered, “Satisfaction? What is satisfaction? What is the good of

it? If a man becomes satisfied, what is he to do then? A man who is

satisfied no longer yearns, no longer dreams, no longer creates, no

longer makes demands. No, I have never known a single moment of

satisfaction.”

We must always rise higher and never rest content with the

achievement of the present. It is good to resolve to not remain the

same in many areas. There is some habit to outgrow, some way of

thinking to improve, some characteristic that merits changing. We can

all more generously devote ourselves to causes; we can all more

strenuously give of ourselves to some good; we can all more

thoughtfully pay attention to our loved ones.

Will the coming year be just one more year? The answer lies in the

recognition that a new year is not decreed by the calendar but

proclaimed by man himself. It is his decision to change that gives

meaning to the “new” in new year.

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

Most certainly it benefits a person when they promise to make

changes to better their lives. The first benefit comes when the

person acknowledges their flaws or ill health style. Next comes the

easy part, to try to make the changes; however, as most of us know,

the hardest part is sticking to them. Nonetheless, we should not wait

around till next year to propose another New Year’s resolution; with

each “New Day” comes a renewed resolution and another attempt.

IMAM MOUSTAFA AL-QAZWINI

Islamic Educational Center

of Orange County

Costa Mesa