New Leaf
Fall reminds us of the falling leaves, whereas springs bring forth new leaves - a burst of new life and new possibilities. In that same way, at every election, whether our favored party wins or loses, we are offered a fresh start, a new beginning, and an opportunity for all of us to chart a new course with new leadership.
One of the wonderful programs that is available to new clergy in a diocese is called Fresh Start. This is a program that seeks to orient new clergy who have taken a cure in a new diocese to learn about the culture of that diocese, meet new and old clergy in the diocese, and, in fact, learn the art of being a pastor and a priest in the new congregation. As a clergyman or woman, you have turned a new leaf with a new cure, and a fresh start helps you along that path.
It is in that same vein does elections offer us a fresh start. Not every one of us may like the results, especially those who lost, but then, win or lose, we turn a new leaf, and we start all over again, not with the same attitude but with a different approach. We use a different approach because we want to believe that we learned something about our first approach and that whatever it is that we learned needs to be improved. That is a tacit acknowledgment of the importance of starting anew and turning a new leaf.
The fact is that many of our neighbors were concerned about the past election. And in fact, many people are still scared because of the uncertainty that lies ahead. Prior to the elections, there was this palpable fear of violence should the former and now newly-elected president have lost. That fear was justified because of the events of January 6th. Thankfully, the current president has promised a peaceful transition of power and has extended an invitation to all of us to lower the temperature.
What is, after all, the value of demonizing each other if our goal is to serve the common good? I believe that the invitation of the current president is also a call to turn a new leaf - where we can take on the responsibility of repairing and mending strained relationships because of different beliefs about the candidates.
There are times when we also face daunting challenges in our own lives. These challenges may test us in a way that we have never been tested before. And when we come out at the end of that battle, we feel the need to turn over a new leaf.
To turn over a new leaf is about a fresh start, a new beginning. It doesn’t mean the past is forgotten, but it is a way to chart a course that is unlike the past life. Any attitude or approach that looks like the past life cannot be considered a new path forward.
I usually conclude every Vestry meeting with a prayer from The New Zealand Prayer Book. But this particular part of the prayer just moves me:
The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day,
new joys,
new possibilities.
I offer this prayer because it reminds me of something so important, which is the fact that there’s always the possibility of new life. I also like to remind the Vestry that a new day brings about new joys because we can look forward to the joyous possibility of beginning anew, afresh, turning a new leaf.
Indeed, the night can signify the darkest point in our lives, in the lives of our loved ones, and even in our broader community. Hear what the scripture says: ‘Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.’ But the point is not to lose hope, mainly because of the promise that tomorrow offers us. That promise is always more than we can ever desire or imagine.
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light,” Aristotle once said. The point is that if we focus on the darkness, we may miss the light that is shining bright right in our faces. If we focus on only the loss that our candidate endured, we may miss the new beginning that could be made possible. If we focus on only the darkness, we miss the opportunity for a fresh start, a new beginning, and the turning of a new leaf.
I am convinced that tomorrow’s promise comes with the turn of a page, the turn of a new leaf. Without the turn of a new leaf, there can be no promise of a new beginning.
A wise person once shared these wise words: “Don’t be afraid to start over again. This time, you’re not starting from scratch; you’re starting from experience.” That would be my advice to the president-elect if he were to ask me. This is because he has a lot of work to do to unsettle the fears of all who are worried and scared about what’s coming down the pike. I pray that he would look at his win not as a mandate for retribution against those he considers as his political enemies but rather as a new morn in America, where he’s been offered the opportunity to turn a new leaf, to change the circumstances of others, and invite us to a higher calling beyond ourselves.
And so, like many of you, I will pray for the president. His success as president will be the collective success of all. My prayer would be that he turns a new leaf. My prayer would be that he not only sees a new day but seizes the mantle to be different.
I listened to a commentary by this gentleman who said, “The way I look at life is that it is the most important phenomenon that exists in the universe. Without life, the universe, by definition, is meaningless. It’s clear that meaning enters the universe with consciousness, and consciousness is a property of living things, so without living things, there’s no meaning. And so, I think that if this is the only planet in the Milky Way galaxy that currently hosts an intelligent civilization, then it is the only island of meaning in a sea of 400 billion stars, and therefore, we have a tremendous responsibility, notwithstanding our physical insignificance to protect this island of meaning. If we mess it up, we will be responsible for annihilating meaning, perhaps forever in the galaxy.”
I thought that was a beautiful summary of our purpose on this single planet, which beams with life and offers meaning to each other and ourselves. Without this meaning, what would be the point of the universe anyway?
This meaning, in my humble opinion, always begins with our recognition of a new beginning, a fresh start, and a new opportunity to turn a new leaf. This opportunity to turn a new leaf gives credence to our belief in the human story as one shaped by birth and rebirth.
Every birth and rebirth, therefore, invites us to turn a new leaf.
Manny +