The Cracked Acorn: Out with the old

The old year will soon be part of our memories and the new year has begun. There is still time to make a list of things to do for improvement in our lives or just to tidy up chronic items that never seem to ever go away. Most would agree on the following and add your own to this list:

Spend more time with family and friends, enjoy life more, get out of debt, learn something new, help others, get organized. (Is there a way to conquer each of the above or any that you wish to add?

Time is our biggest enemy and limits our ability to enjoy life (as I see it!) because we are a time-conscious society. Many are lost in debt and cannot begin anything new. There are always opportunities to help others. Getting organized and staying that way for all the seasons is very difficult.)

This beautiful prayer written many years ago may answer our needs.

A NEW YEAR’S PRAYER
A whole new year is mine today…
May I be wiser, Lord, I pray!
I’d strengthen friendships, old and true
And learn to cherish new ones, too;
To keep on learning and to grow
A little deeper as I go.
To cast aside each grudge and grief,
And hold fast to a firm belief
That life is joyous, gracious, good,
When lived in terms of brotherhood.
To welcome fun, and play awhile,
To lighten work with a pleasant smile!
To thank the Lord and every day
Remember Him, and kneel and to pray,
In gratitude for strength and health
And blessings which are all my wealth.
This year’s a gift from God to me
To spend, or use, or set me free…
A whole new year is mine today…
May I be wiser, Lord, I pray.
-Selected

A NEW Year’s Blog suggests that we start 2021 by cleaning up our language and also not using the following: doggone, dog gone it, darn it, dern it, by gosh, con sarn it, gol dern it, gol darn it, ye gods, ye gads, cheese and crackers, dag nab it, dad bern it, dang it, son of a buck, son of a sea crook, son of a sea horse, son of a biscuit eater, gee whiz, dad blast it, shucks, blast it, drat, gosh darn it, gosh dern it, con found it, ding bust it, by golly, hang it all, what in the sam hill, oh shoot, for heaven’s sake, mercy me, I swan and oh pshaw. Horse feathers, fiddle-dee-dee and piddle-dee-dee, holy mackerel, holy Toledo, holy Jehosephat, phony baloney, fiddlesticks, jeepers creepers, I’ll be hanged, I’ll be switched, you tell ‘em, I studder, well bust my buttons, shoot, for gripe’s sake, heaven help us, for Pete’s sake, it’s a stinkin’ lie, that’s a heck of a note, he’s full of malarkey, he’s full of beans, lawsy, that’s a lot of bunk, he’s full of baloney, by jingle and heavens to Mergatroid.