Why Do We Do Those End of the Year Posts?

Sometimes it feels performative. Sometimes it feels like humble-bragging. I’m certain I’m guilty of both, but mostly it’s for diarizing because I want to remember. (This is definitely the only reason I use Yelp. I want to remember where we had those perfect tacos.)

Among my favorite annual lists are this one and this one. But I newly love this list of The Best Sentences of 2023 by Frank Bruni. (Note: Bruni wasn’t talking about judicial judgments)

I started to ponder my own favorite sentences of the past year and what I learned from them that informs my life’s work. Several came to mind.

MY FAVORITE SENTENCES OF 2023.

• “I love you but you are not serious people.” Logan Roy to his children in Succession. I haven’t said this to anyone, as far as I can remember, but as we are blessed with this life and are created to enjoy it, life is serious business. Yes, we get to relish it, treasure it, enjoy it, and delight in it. Fun is essential. Laughter is the best. And also we were made to make it better for vulnerable people. Too many of our congregations have forgotten that making earth more like heaven is serious business.
• “It’s a deficit of joy.” Frank Bruni (again) about a presidential candidate who was supposed to be the one to beat this election season. When observing perennially cranky people or people whose cynicism has taken hold of their lives, I see a deficit of joy. There is no existential joy that undergirds their souls. A harsh assessment, maybe, but deep joy is crucial for God’s people. Yes, this global agony experienced throughout the world is enough to paralyze every one of us. And yet that peace that passes all understanding is no joke. Pastors especially: hold fast to this.
• “Jewish life is portable.” Malachi the dancer in The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride says this when a mezuzah is found by State Troopers in the first chapter of this delightful novel. “Don’t these things belong on doors?” the troopers asked. Malachi shrugged and noted the portability of his faith. I laughed out loud and thought – yes – our faith must be portable. It’s not just for whatever Sabbath we remember and keep holy. It’s for every day in every place.
• “Yay space.” While Barbie is driving through Barbie Land in her pink convertible, she sees her astronaut sister Barbies floating in the heavens and cheers, “Yay space!” It makes me laugh out loud every time. (Yes I’ve seen this movie more than once.) Sometimes “yay” is the only expression needed.
• “Hospice care is not a matter of giving up. It’s a decision to shift our efforts from shoring up a body on the verge of the end to providing solace to a soul that’s on the cusp of forever.” The great Robin Givhan wrote this in February about President Carter’s decision to enter hospice care. (I confess that this is one of the sentences Frank Bruni first chose as one of his favorites of 2023.) What I learned from this and remember as we begin 2024 is that we truly don’t know what the new year will bring. A tired servant decides it’s time to prepare for the end and little does he know he’ll not only survive the rest of the year, but he will outlive his beloved.

This year will bring new relationships and unexpected losses, unspeakable cruelties and gut-busting laughter. There will be new books and new songs and several clever people will write the best sentences. And God will be with us whether we acknowledge it or not.

Bless you in the New Year. Let’s do our best.