December 31

The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. — Rom 13:12

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrow lust of gold:
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
— Alfred Tennyson.

Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.
— John Ruskin.

Prayer

My Father, as I look to the past days, I feel much of my happiness and much of my misery has come from my own choice. May I be more watchful of my standards and less wasteful of my time, and keep a poise in life that will leave a memory of well-spent days. For the year that has passed and for its blessings I thank thee. Amen.