On this first day of the new year, many of you may be taking down Christmas trees and putting away boxes of ornaments, etc. These tasks always stir my emotions and make me wax nostalgic.
I usually put up two trees every year.
My “musical tree” stands near my piano downstairs and features music-related ornaments, many of which connect me to treasured friends.
My “teacher tree” graces my upstairs hallway and is filled with red apples and ornaments given to me by my students. This tree also features many of my mother’s hand-made ornaments and those made by my family and friends, many of whom are no longer with us.
From tiny pianos gifted to me by a former pastor to a broken unicorn that represents Tennessee Williams’ play, each ornament holds a special place in my heart.
While all these treasures cause me to reflect fondly on the past, this day reminds me to look to the future with hope in my heart.
Thinking of the past and the future, I am reminded of my career as an English teacher.
I required my students to learn verb tenses. I felt if my students could conjugate the verb “to be,” they could become skillful in using all verb tenses correctly.
Understanding correct verb tense, a word derived from the Latin tempus meaning time, helps all of us convey our thoughts in proper context.
In case anyone is interested, here’s a link to a previous conjugation lesson:
https://joycemccullough.com/language-lessons-verb-conjugation/
Present Tense: I am, you are, he is, we are, you are, they are.
Past Tense: I was, you were, he was, we were, you were, they were.
Future Tense: I will be, you will be, he will be, we will be, you will be, they will be.
The Perfect Tenses, with those helping verbs, often proved to be challenging for my students.
While I don’t think English classes require students to conjugate verbs in today’s world, this first day of the new year inspires me to focus on the future tense. (Those progressive tenses may also be applicable here, but I’ll let you chew upon those later.)
Our world will be nicer. Grocery prices will go down. God will prevail. Hope will reign. I will publish another book.
Here’s to many more hopes and dreams for the future!
I will be trusting Jeremiah 29:11 in 2025!
The new year also brings about resolutions. We resolve to exercise more, eat less, read more, scroll less, do more of this and less of that.
As part of my speech minor in college, I endured a semester course called “Argumentation and Debate.” Terrified of my eventual role in an actual debate, I diligently researched the subject matter and prepared to face off against pre-law students who intimidated me. I still have the folder of notecards both for and against the topic of RESOLVED: That the United States Federal Government should curtail the development of nuclear energy.
During that semester I learned much about the pros and cons of nuclear energy as well as the pros and cons of alternative sources such as wind and solar.
I continued to focus on pros and cons when I taught my honors public speaking classes. Each year we researched the national high school debate resolution and learned about topics such as transportation infrastructure and sub-Saharan African countries, etc.
Bottom line: a resolution must be supported with action. We can’t just talk it, we must walk it!
I must “seize the day,” “make hay while the sun shines,” and “not put off until tomorrow what I can do today.”
I will live in the present, learn from the past, and pray for a brighter future.
I had resolved in this new year to review books and not write my customary blogs, but I think I’ve already failed to support that resolution. I’ll try to keep an open mind in the future, however.
RESOLVED: That the year 2025 will be a blessing to all!
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”—Romans 15:13
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the past, the present, and the future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me.”—Charles Dickens
“What’s past is prologue.”—William Shakespeare
“Today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day.”—Indian proverb
Jeremiah 29:11; Isaiah 43:18; Philippians 3:13-14; Philippians 1:6; Proverbs 3:5-6; Lamentations 3:21-23
Hmmm, my goal is to use all”The Tenses” perfectly. As always you provide us with a chance to remember things from the past. I conjugated verbs and as I read them I got to I am and remembered all the rest of them from each tense and it’s been over 68 years. Funny how things stick with us like tense, doing multiplication in our heads and the song about how many days in a month we learned in elementary school. Let’s hope and pray 2025 Can be a great year.
🙂