As I was thinking about important dates and upcoming events, something gave me pause. Didn’t we just light the Chanukah menorah? I can remember exactly what I was doing when the festival began a year ago. My post on this humble blog from that time is fresh in my memory. (I can’t always say the same thing about what happened a week or month before.)
To be sure, this has been a year chock-full of momentous occasions, some good, some less so. And some of the not-so-perfect events turned out to be not-so-bad. There is also much to look forward to in the weeks and months to come. One might think that, with so many notable events, a year would feel much longer.
Perhaps age has something to do with this phenomenon. After all, next month I, thank G-d, join the ranks of the sixty-somethings.
Whatever the reason for the warp-speed flight of the past year, I know one thing. It’s a lesson we can take from the Chanukah story. If a small, weak, and outnumbered group of people could take on a mighty army, with confidence in the Almighty’s help, and emerge victorious, there is nothing too difficult for me to accomplish. All I need to do is make the effort, demonstrate the will, and maintain the trust that I will receive the assistance necessary to achieve my goal. It’s happened often in the past. It will happen again.
Have a joyous Chanukah!
