"May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers." 1 Thess 3: 11-13 (The Message)
I love the little prayers that Paul peppers into his letters. Particularly the way that they come alive in Eugene Peterson's Message translation. I look at that prayer and say, yes, I want that. A clear road would be nice. A vision for the future and a path to follow toward it. Love that is so overwhelming it showers out to others. A robust hope in God, and a real knowledge of his presence.
It seems like an appropriate note on which to start a New Year, after a wonderful break from which I did not wish to return and a touch of the post-holiday blues.