Better Days

When my Egytpian co-worker wanted to hear a song for New Year’s Day, the first I thought of (other than the eponymous U2 song) was “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls:

You ask me what I want this year
So I’ll try to make this kind and clear
Just the chance that maybe we’ll find better days

I don’t need boxes wrapped in string
Desire, love, and empty things
Just the chance that maybe we’ll find better days

The past year was, in general, a year of disasters the world over. The worst financial crisis in decades has plunged the world into recession. China experienced a major disaster of some sort nearly every single month—the Olympic Torch protests, the Sichuan earthquake, riots in Tibet and elsewhere, the tainted milk scandal—with the one exception being the Olympics themselves. India was hit by the worst and most blatant terrorist attack ever, as our current home—Bombay—was held hostage for 60 hours by ten men; now, an outraged public wonders, as did one protester, “Will I live until the next election?” (And the campaign of terror by radical Hindus against Christians in the state of Orissa continues to this day). Horrors are unfolding in Zimbabwe and the Congo. Israel has essentially declared war on the Gaza Strip—for understandable reasons of national security, yet killing as many civilians as Hamas militants. America’s President is now set to leave office with one of the lowest approval ratings in history (somewhat unfairly) for a two-term administration. It was a year of failing banks and soaring rhetoric, sky-high oil prices and collapsing home prices, greater peace in Iraq but less everywhere else, the election of the first African-American President but with superhuman messianic hopes laid upon his shoulders.

Yet my wife and I look back upon 2008 as a year of tremendous joy and blessings, a year filled with reasons to be thankful. The biggest reason is, admittedly, largely unique to us – it was our first year of marriage! But we were certainly not the only people married at the end of 2007 or during 2008. And what about those older couples whose marriages existed on December 31, 2007, and who are still married on January 1, 2009—perhaps even more in love than before? It may sound like trite sentimentality, but is this not cause for rejoicing – that so many men and women around the world came through a difficult year with someone whom they deeply love still at their side?

For those worried about global warming, the latest data from NASA show that the Earth is now cooler than it was 10 years ago. (Which ought to be good news, unless you’ve staked your career or your purpose in life on preaching doomsday scenarios and battling carbon dioxide). Given Thomas Friedman’s observation that oil prices and freedom seem to move in opposite directions—since dictatorships are often propped up by oil revenues—the fall in commodity prices is good news, even for those such as myself who work in the petroleum business. And even with the recession and stock market downturn, the fact remains that we are all better off materially than our parents were.

As for the war in Iraq, you could be forgiven for not knowing what the mainstream media generally buried: that President George W. Bush, on the 14th of December 2008, signed a security agreement with the Iraqi government committing to a withdrawal of all American troops from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and committing to a complete pullout of all American military forces from Iraq by the end of 2011. The man who led us into Iraq has just gotten us out. That in itself is an answer to millions of prayers.

So perhaps 2008 was not so bad after all. Perhaps we Americans have become a nation of whiners and wimps, who think that we have cheated the Fall only to be harshly reminded that, in fact, original sin remains as stubborn as ever. This is what Gregg Easterbrook called “the paradox of progress” – the better life gets materially, the more miserable we become as our spiritual poverty and fear of losing it all are exposed.

To be fair, that is little consolation to those who were struck by tragedy or violence this year. It is those individuals and communities who have genuine reason to look upon the new year with a mix of both apprehension and yearning.

I am not in the forecasting business. Though we all can hope, and the odds seem good, I honestly have no idea whether 2009 will be better (on the whole) than 2008. “Things can only get better” may be true statistically, but it’s no guarantee. It would be utterly foolish to place our faith in some sort of rebound in political or economic trends, or any new political or business leaders.

Yet I do have great hope that 2009 will hold better days, not only for my wife and I but for the world as a whole. Christians have long held a belief in the possibility of genuine progress. This is not the Modern notion of Progress as an end in and of itself, as if it were a god. Nor is it the vague optimism that assumes progress to be inevitable (“the future is coming!”). But we believe that the entire universe and all of history is in the hands of a good, wise and all-powerful personal God, who is working through both positive and negative events to bring about his purposes. It is His hand that unleashes judgment – but also His hand that holds back the torrent. Sometimes financial impoverishment leads to spiritual wealth, natural disasters lead to human creation, and the terror of war motivates the quest for peace.

So here’s to better days in 2009 – a genuine hope in the One who holds the past, present and future in His hands, of whom it is said, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10); who Himself said, “Behold, I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:20).

May it be so. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

And the One poor child who saved this world
And there’s ten million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And scream out loud
Everyone is forgiven now
‘Cause tonight’s the night the world begins again

—“Better Days” / words by Johnny Rzeznik © 2005 Warner Records.