Mike Gilland
Here we are again, a fresh turn of the page on the trusty old calendar, and just like that, 2021 is over. Hello, New Year!
Yep, life is bustling with new plans, maybe a resolution or two, a few pounds to lose, more muscle to gain, and maybe, just maybe, a cleaner garage.
Some celebrated yesterday with turnip greens, black eyed peas and cornbread. Others were looking over their new gym membership card, and others…well, they are just glad that 2021 is behind us.
I am also willing to bet that everyone reading this is wishing for the pandemic to end just as solidly as this past year went by the wayside Friday at midnight.
I too am hopeful for 2022, and as I was thinking about some of the new initiatives that I would like to put into place, out of the blue came a thought…one that hasn’t hit my mind in years.
It was in the late ‘60s, and the leaders of our church passed out these large, quarter-sized wooden tokens. Printed on one side were the words, “One Round Tuit.” And on the other side, and explanation that the bearer of this wooden coin is granted a measure of freedom, to do whatever it was that we didn’t get around to doing in the last year.
You see, we will have time now, and with the coin, there was no excuse! Why? No longer could we say that “we couldn’t get around to it.” Now, we had “a round tuit!”
Even then, the corny nature of this campaign was obvious, but it still worked. I had an indelible image of that “round tuit” stuck in my brain for the rest of my life.
And with it, I also had an early understanding of its tongue-in-cheek message: We all have the capability to procrastinate, to put off something that is important, something that needs “gotten ‘round to.”
So my challenge to myself this new year is this: Be more intentional, be more thorough, and keep the main thing as the main thing. Don’t get as easily distracted by all those “urgent” but non-essential activities. And above all, work to honor God in all that I say or do.
As brief as it is, this is still quite a list. But it does represent a good goal, and a place to start. And who knows…I just might get a round tuit!
Happy New Year.