Farewell to 2008

"Farewell we call to hearth and hall!
Though wind may blow and rain may fall,
We must away ere break of day
Far over wood and mountain tall."

~J.R.R. Tolkien

I don't know why, but I've been thinking of this poem lately. With all the goodbyes I've had to say in the last year, I'm rather ready to say goodbye to 2008. When I was studying the definition of life back in March, one of the scientific attributes was that to be alive, you must change. I used to hate change, but in recent years have grown almost fond of it. Tomorrow I shall be different than I am today, and I thank God for it. Change may be an attribute of lifishness (I may have a post later on this word, the coining of which came from "life" and "fish," so lifishness is the bad/fishy part of life), but it is part of the hope of life as well.

As Revelation 3:16 says: "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Go forward or back, but if you stay where you are you'll be stagnant and useless.

We shouldn't fear change, just because we don't know it. Or as they said in "Rosencranz and Gildenstern are Dead": "We do not know what death is, it is illogical to fear it. It might be... very nice..."

And so, plunge boldly forth into the new year! Go live, go change, but after you change, be sure to come back and reintroduce yourself to me :-)