My reflection today comes from Fresh Bread:
“It was the first day of the new year. I awoke that morning to a magnificent wonderland: sun sparkling on a fresh snowfall, tree limbs lined a white loveliness. The snow has transformed the earth from the drabness of a barren landscape. As I rejoice in this beauty, I remembered a line from Girard Manley Hopkins: ‘There lies the dearest freshness deep down things.’ Looking at the pure touch of snow I felt that ‘dearest freshness’ resting on the land and also resting deeply inside of me. It was the new year. It was the time to ponder the past and make marks for the future. The ‘freshness’ held my attention and journey into prayerful reflection. ‘Yes, I thought. Freshness. That’s it. That is what this new year is offering me as I pray to the God of my life this sparkling morning. God is holding out a freshness of life to me. God is offering me a new beginning with this new year.’” – Joyce Rupp
This was written 35 years ago and yet it is still so meaningful. God is offering us freshness…the vaccine which is offering us a light at the end of the tunnel. Even though this pandemic is still raging, God is offering us a new fresh start. Let us ask God to continue to guide us each and every day. 

