3-Strand New Year Resolutions (2x yearly)

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"There is a time for everything." Ecclesiastes 3:18

"It's not that I've already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me." Philippians 3:12 (God's Word Translation)

I love the holiday season in China because, for us Americans at least, it can take up almost 1/4 of the year. After we celebrate Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas tree and decorations and leave them up through New Year, Chinese New Year, and Lantern Festival (15 days later). Depending upon how the Luny calendar falls, our holiday can last well into February.

By celebrating two New Year's, I can make New Year resolutions twice. Of course, that usually just means I have twice as many resolutions to break. Over my 20+ years in China I've resolved and countless times to spend at least 30 minutes a day on my written Chinese, or to quit wanting to lay an Oral Roberts headlock on crazy Darwinian Drivers, or to run daily to prep for the Xiamen International Marathon....

Dissolving Resolve And then over the next few weeks and months my resolutions don't break but dissolve slowly, almost imperceptibly. I study Chinese daily only for a few weeks. I keep my temper while driving for only a few days. I give up on the Marathon madness right out the gate because Xiamen government moved the date to January 1st, which I of course complain about but for which I breathe a quiet sigh of relief. So why even bother with resolutions?

Inner and Outer Resolve Resolutions at least give me some direction as to the course I should be following. But to persevere, I need not just inner resolve but also external accountability--from family, friends, co-workers. And I need to be frank with my Father about where I'm at, where I should be, and my need for His help. For example, I may be able to "control" my reactions towards crazy Darwinian drivers in China, but these are just outer symptoms of more deep-rooted problems, such as impatience and pride. To deal with these requires not mere resolve but rebirth, and daily renewal (Paul's "dying daily").

Three-Strand Resolutions. A solo resolution is easily broken, but as I remarked in "Made in Heaven--How to Break the 3 Strand Cord," a two strand cord is twice as strong as one strand, but a three strand cord is ten to fifteen times stronger--and infinitely stronger if that third is our Father.

Resolutions shared If I share my resolutions with others, I'm more likely to stick to them because I don't want to lose face. I'm even more likely to stick to a resolution if I encourage others to ask me how I'm doing with it--which is easy to do with today's technology. A friend can send me a weekly e-mail asking how I'm doing with my daily quiet times, my driving, or my Chinese study, and I have to respond--which forces me to face the truth. It is not as easy to hide the truth from myself when I must share it with others.

I will continue to make resolutions, both yearly and daily, even though I continue to fall short of achieving them. After all, even Paul failed daily (he "died daily" because he failed daily). But as much as possible I will try to avoid solo resolutions and their inherent capacity for denial, and make them 3-strand, sharing them with my loved ones and my Father.

I will also emphasize present-tense resolutions--avoiding daydreams that are too intangible to direct my steps today, and creating a vision of what can be done, here and now, if I move forward step by step in this marathon we call life. (Philippians 3:12).

And that's my resolution for today. As for yesterday's resolutions--"forgetting what is behind and pressing forward toward the prize...." (Philippians 3:13).

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