The First Day
A New Year - 2024
**Episode Notes - "The First Day"**
- Welcome to the inaugural episode of "Stories from the Road" with Dick Foth in 2024.
- Dick reflects on the profound nature of January 1st, marking the beginning of a new year.
- He opens with a quote from John Lennon, pondering life's unpredictability and the unexpected twists it may bring.
- References the statistical certainties of life, such as births and deaths, grounding the discussion in the tangible and inevitable.
- Cites the biblical perspective from Malachi 3:6, emphasizing the unchanging nature of the Lord, a timeless source of comfort.
- "For I am the Lord, I change not." - Malachi 3:6
- Explores the New Testament affirmation in Hebrews, stating that Jesus Christ remains constant throughout time, echoing Malachi's sentiment.
- "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." - Hebrews 13:8
- Introduces a prayer for the new year by Joyce Rupp, grounding the podcast in a spiritual perspective.
- Encourages listeners to embrace the mystery of the future with faith and hope, guided by the wisdom of the prayer.
- Invites a perspective shift towards welcoming whatever comes our way, fostering resilience and gratitude.
- Acknowledges the challenges and comforts found in Joyce Rupp's writings, adding depth to the narrative.
Join Dick Foth in this insightful exploration of "The First Day" of 2024, where references from John Lennon, Malachi, and Hebrews converge to provide wisdom, comfort, and inspiration for the road ahead.
Well, hello friends, it's Dick Foth, it is 2024 and these are stories from the road podcast number one for 2024. So this is the first day, I'm recording this on January 1st. This is the first day of 2024 and the question is what can we expect? John Lennon had a line years ago that said life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. I don't know that I'd heard that line when I heard another one said life is what happens when we expected something else. So the question is what can we expect? Well, you know certain things we can expect. I mean, births, for example, and deaths in 2023. There were about 3.6 million births in the United States and about 2.9 million deaths. Someone said years ago that the two things you can count on are death and tax as well. What's expected of us on April 15th, taxes for sure and you can calculate those from the last year from 2023. Another thing that is upcoming is, and you can expect this, are the elections for house, senate, president, vice president and we cannot calculate those. We don't know. Most things there are to know, I don't know. But let me tell you what I do know, a profit thousands of years ago, a Hebrew prophet, Old Testament is what we would call them, Malachi in chapter 3.6 says, for, I am the Lord, I change not. So I personally know that, I've experienced that. And later on, some time later, a couple thousand years later, the writer of Hebrews in chapter 13 writes, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Not just tomorrow, but he is the same yesterday, today and forever. Last week Ruth found something, a piece of writing that I found very challenging and comforting in a lot of ways written by Joyce Rupp, an author and a conference speaker. And this was her prayer for a new year, and so as we head into 2024, I'd like to submit that this is a worthy prayer, worthwhile prayer to listen to. God of this new year, we are walking into mystery. We face the future, not knowing what the days and months will bring to us or how we will respond. Be loved in us as we journey. May we welcome all who come our way, deep in our faith to see all of life through your eyes. Fill us with hope and an abiding trust that you dwell in us amidst our joys and sorrows. Thank you for the treasure of our faith life. Thank you for the gift of being able to rise each day with the assurance of you walking through the day with us. God of this new year, we praise you, amen. I think we can be all over that, my friends. I'll catch you next time. Dicphote signing off. God bless. Bye bye.