Today, It Hit

Today, it hit.  This indeed is the new year.  Yes, I know it was yesterday, but the reality of it didn’t hit me until this afternoon sometime while I was being hypnotized by the boob tube and all of the football bowl games.  I’m not sure what prompted the epiphany, but I’m glad it happened while I was in a “safe” place.
Had I been driving, I might have jerked off of the road.  Had I been at the store, I might have bought everything on the shelf.  Had I been at church, I might have uttered a tongue or prophecy (both taboo in my fellowship).
So, now that it’s official in my mind, I can begin to process the reality of yet another year down the tubes, and another year stretched out in front of me (provided I don’t die or the Second Coming delays).  Fifty years ago, it was 1956, and I was in Mrs. Drouhard’s second grade class.  Forty years ago, it was 1966 and I was a junior in high school.  Thirty years ago, it was 1976 and, married for almost two years, we bought a place in Brewster, Kansas and moved there.  Twenty years ago, 1986, we had just finished burying my mother and my dad would pass on within six months.  Ten years ago, 1996, I had not yet received my promotion at Harper Hospital, and my best years there were still ahead of me.
And as the years hurtle on down the track of time, I will continue to marvel and wonder at what I see and hear.  I will relish the days and enjoy the peace that comes from knowing the God of the Universe.  And I will be drawn ever closer to the notion that to get out of the way and no longer run the race is really OK.  Really, it is.