Some time ago I was parked at a local restaurant when I found my car wouldn’t move. It had to do with the transmission. I was very lucky in that the good folks at Rottet Motors in Tamaqua were about to come get me, and fix the problem. But it is no fun to be stuck in neutral - physically, emotionally and spiritually.

January was one of those months that can promote this feeling. The holidays are over. You are coming off a sugar overdose, you have bills to pay. You have to get back into routine. You realize that a new year is to begin. You wonder why it’s hard to get yourself in gear. I call it my “Scrooge-ification,” apologies to Dickens.

Philosopher Alan Watts presented an interesting analogy that helps me in such times. He alluded, for those unlucky enough not to have dishwashers, to a large stack of dishes. He even sharpened the argument by asking us to imagine all the dishes you would have to wash in a life time. His answer was, “You can only wash one dish at a time.”

A similar adage asks, “How does one eat an elephant? “One bite at a time.” For me, I help fight boredom with a word that is almost synonymous with boredom: “Routine.” When I retired it helped preserve my sanity.

Think of it, you work 30 to 40 years and you are in routine. Creating one helps you adjust in retirement. Private devotions, exercise, writing, supply preaching all helped “the brain cells from falling out of my ears.”

To go back to Watts for a moment, one of my favorite Warner Bros. cartoons is “Hollywood Steps Out.” It showcases in cartoon form 40 of the Hollywood stars I grew up with. Names like Dietrich, Bogart, Grant and Marx come to mind.

In one scene Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland are at dinner and the bill is exorbitant. He asks to have a heart to heart with his movie dad, Judge Hardy. Throughout the cartoon a conga beat is playing. “Bump-bump, bump -bump, bump, BUMP!” The next scene features father and son washing a large stack of dishes to the beat. I can hear it in my head. “Wash and Rinse and Dry, Stack!” “Wash and Rinse and Dry, Stack! Get into a rhythm it.

Another yet similar way I fight the Scrooge-ification is by pausing. A famous soft drink was sold under the slogan, “The Pause that Refreshes.” While we prize work and efficiency, we forget that it is in the pauses of life come rest and resurrection.

My dad liked to talk about an exhausting time of life: My mother was ill, my grandfather in the hospital, he goes to the corner market for something and finds a “Be back in fifteen minutes” sign. There he sat in sunshine of a glorious summer afternoon. He always recalled, that, with everything he arose feeling, “like a million bucks.” It is also said, “It is the pause between the notes that makes the music.”

Another way is to find a way to be useful. Someone once said, “It is harder for Satan to hit a moving target.” Call a friend, volunteer or make a donation to a worthy cause. Consider learning something new. Express your faith to others.

I am looking forward to seeing the movie “80 for Brady.” An image from their commercial is sticking with me. Little Rita Moreno (She’s 91, God Bless her!”) is making off with a life-size picture of quarterback Tom Brady.

When we receive the holy communion, when we are blessed in prayer, scripture and fellowship, can we not be carrying the Christ to others? As you come into Palmerton you see two Orthodox Churches. They are distinctive for their “Hershey Kiss” shaped domes and crosses. Part of the reason for the distinctive shape, I’ve read, is to symbolize the pregnant Virgin Mary bearing Jesus into the world. We may be, as Reformer Martin Luther put it, “Little Christs” to those we interact with.

Finally, as I’ve said before, “In Everything Think Thanks.” In the corner of my daily devotional booklet, I try to write down everything I am thankful for. It can be a good cup of coffee to a large blessing, and in between, I log it. Consider trying it. In three weeks time, I am told, you will further develop your attitude of gratitude. Too often we let the things we don’t have block the things we do. I used to tell my kids, “Don’t start with a thousand and count down, start with zero and count up.”

Some time ago I discovered that by adding the word “Now” to the familiar table grace, it could be sung to either the “ Doxology,” or “On Jordan’s Bank” or any other “Long Meter 8888” (syllable count) tune. I’ll close with “a sing long” and pray it will help get you in gear for the new year. Follow the bouncing Lutheran:

Now thank You for the world so sweet

Now thank You for the food we eat

Now thank You for the birds that sing

Now thank You God for everything!

Amen

God’s blessing to you in this New Year!

Rev. John F, Hazel Jr. is retired and lives in Palmerton