What's In a Year?

A year is simply another year and at the same time is a complex and eventful set of 365 days.

During the year 2010, I completed two more semesters of undergraduate study, grieved the loss of a dear friend, celebrated my last year as a teenager, worked full-time in Minnesota during the summer, held to a three-bullet point philosophy: shut up, be humble and grow up, became a boyfriend and grew in innumerable ways spiritually, socially and academically.

As another year is set to begin, the greatest joy is that one more day has been granted, not to regret the past, but to celebrate the present with the hope of the future.

Birthdays

Today is the birthday of a dear friend and perhaps the only faithful reader of my thoughts.

Birthdays provide the opportunity to celebrate the past, the coming of the new, and the hope of the future. In common custom, birthdays are celebrated on the day of birth by month and day of each subsequent year since birth. I was informed by my South Korean foreign-exchange student cousin that Korean custom increases every person's age each January 1, regardless of actual day of birth. It is still common to celebrate the day of birth, however.

There are several official birthdays that are celebrated. The birth of Christ (Christmas), the birth of the Japanese Emperor and George Washington's birthday (Presidents' Day) are among the renowned birthdays.

Each celebration of birth is a reminder of the beginning of life, the inevitable end of life, and the hope for eternal life. Birthdays are not a commercialized means for consumerism but is an opportunity for worship to the Creator for what has been, what is, and what will be to come.

Gopher Christmas

For four days in the state,

there is not much to hate.

Snow covers each home,

and destroys the Metrodome.

Strings and horns greet my ears,

as Doc Severinsen leads Christmas cheers.

The city is still with chill,

as the sun sets over the hill.

Each storm brings more,

while people snore.

Then the traffic snarls

as shoppers are now borrowers.

A company of friends feeds the soul

with laughs that never take a toll.

Several games quiz the mind

and a win is not a hard find.

Scrooge and Cratchit take the stage,

when the Guthrie's Carol begins to engage.

Pizza and humus after the show

make the day no low.

Christmas in the North is grand,

with the best great aunt in the land.

Minnesota Nice prevails in all

as the snow continues to fall.