2023 has come and 2022 has passed. Old and new tend to confuse us. Yesterday, today, and
tomorrow are more than we can grasp at once. Old and new bring inevitable conflict. This is
especially true in computer hardware, education, and personal lifestyles. There is an art to mixing old
with new and being pleased with the outcome. We tend to want all old or all new. We become very
aware of this as we begin a new year.
It helps to see the value of both the old and the new. The old tends to give stability; the new
tends to promise adventure. The old gives us a basis for judgment; the new gives us opportunities to
experiment. The old gives us experience on which to draw; the new gives us an opportunity to dream.
The old gives us memories both good and bad; the new gives us the promise of discoveries.
Jesus once said something that may be helpful to us as we begin this new year. In Matthew
13:52 he said, “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a
man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things old and new.” May we
start 2023 by learning to value the lessons we have learned and the challenges we will be offered in
the new year.
Dr. Mike Young,
Interim Director of Missions