Men,
I am happy to wish you all a Happy New Year and to usher in the new times, I feel the need to rouse the troops and raise morale amongst us.
You have made it to another day. The last calendar year has quite literally been one for the books (however one could say that about any year). It is now 2022 in the year of Our Lord. Christ has been born.
I have been contributing to this blog since early 2019 and since it’s conception, have amassed a small treasure trove of quotes from great men - laymen, soldiers, legends and saints alike.
But when the world makes it’s way around the sun and people begin to make their famous resolutions, I frequently turn back to the words of Saint Augustine;
Each January we have the habit of making grandiose promises to ourselves. Ones that we often put by the wayside when the going gets tough. But I wish to preach something a little different.
It is the little things that matter. We aspire to be great warriors for Christ and wish to do his Holy Will (or at least we should) - but how do we get to the top of that mountain?
In aspiring to these great things, we MUST begin with the little things in life. The painting above is one from Norman Rockwell, titled “The American Way”. In this painting you see a large United States Soldier , who at this time was fighting in World War II, saving the planet from the Nazi Horde. But while this hypothetical soldier is not on the battlefield, he is feeding a helpless child with a smile on his face.
As men, we can learn quite a bit from this painting. Plain and simple - you are called to do good. You are called to do God’s work, whether you consider it to be grandiose or not. When something needs to be done, big or small, YOU are the man for the job.
YOU are a Christian man. As we all march on to 2022 together in step, you must hold your head high like one. Today, you begin again. Today and this day forward you will walk with Christ and love like Him.
To complete this grandiose resolution, the resolution to walk in Christ’s path, we must remember the downtrodden, the poor, the widow and the sinners just like us and do the little things for them
Give your time, give a meal, give a smile, give a compliment and give more than what you get.
When at home, love your family. When at work, do a good day’s worth and act like somebody.
Men - be intentional, do the little things big and BE THE CREED.
God Bless you all and I look forward to our continued march towards Heaven.
Thanks for the call to a great start to 2022 Nick!
I very much appreciated the "act like somebody" phrasing. It speaks to having an intentional through line to your actions, big and small. Do you find that a combination of large and small resolutions is beneficial in helping one continue to be practically useful in the day-to-day while maintaining the larger than life inspiration needed to push forward through strife?