How shall we keep our promises in 2024?

Here we are, coming up on Christmas…
can our New Year’s Resolutions be far behind?

We know from experience that to keep our resolutions
longer than a few weeks into 2024
is going to take some major self discipline.

How’s your self discipline doing these days?
How’s mine?
Is it as strong as it needs to be?
If we make a resolution that we are going to work out three times a week
what are the chances we will actually do it?

I wish both of us the best at keeping our resolutions.
For excellent assistance on how to set and actually reach
your most important goals for 2024
allow me to recommend Michael Hyatt’s wonderful book: Your Best Year Ever.

I have been applying Hyatt’s lessons for the past four years.
They work well for resolutions and goals.
But what about our promises?

Our promises go deeper

Resolutions and goals are tough.
But they’re not at the same level as promises.

Our promises are sacred.

What I am asking you today is:
How are we going to keep our promises in 2024?

The only way we will keep our promises in 2024
is if we have not only the self discipline
but the character and the love
to be true.

True to ourselves and true to others.

We need to be a person others can count on
to do what we say we will do
–with them and for them.

Hmmm….
That sounds familiar….
Isn’t that what we we expect of our political leaders?

To have high character.
To love their country and their fellow citizens.
To be reliable.

To do what they say they will do.
To keep their promises to us and our democracy.

But it’s not so easy to do that, is it?

It’s not going to be easy for US to do that in 2024
and it’s sure not going to be easy for THEM.

Leaders like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger
have kept their promises to us
since the January 6 insurrection
but have been turfed from their positions.

These courageous leaders show us
that keeping our promises takes guts and love.

Making the promise is the easy part.
Getting ourselves to do the day-in day-out work
and making the painful sacrifices to KEEP that promise
is very, very hard.

Faith and purpose

To keep our promises to ourselves and others in 2024
will take faith and purpose.

When we make our promises
we will need to ask ourselves WHY?

Why am I promising to do this?
What is my purpose?
What is my powerful reason that will keep me on track?

We will also need faith.
We will need to believe in ourselves
and in the power of God to help us.

We cannot keep our promises alone.
We cannot maintain our self discipline alone.
We need relationships and families and communities of faith
so we can do the tough stuff together.

How shall we keep our promises to America in 2024?

We all know our democracy is in danger.

We must wake up and fully face this painful reality.

There are fascist forces on the rise in our country
that fully intend and have made public their detailed plans
to end our democracy in November.

The only way they can do that
is if they can get enough votes.

All reasonable political leaders
–both red state and blue state–
who are standing up against this mortal danger
and defending our Constitution
need us to stand with them and encourage them.

They deserve our deep respect and our full assistance.

How shall we keep our promises in 2024?

We will have faith in our country.
We will have faith in our fellow citizens.

We will not give in to cynicism, pessimism nor despair.
That is the coward’s way out!

If our democracy is destroyed,
our own passivity will have been the cause.
Passivity between now and November is suicide.

We will be active, not passive!

We will keep our promises to America
by donating to the campaigns of pro-democracy leaders.

We will contribute our constructive thoughts in online and public forums.

We will volunteer to knock on doors and talk with our fellow citizens.

[I loved doing this in previous elections.
It is all about respectful listening.
You listen and find common ground,
then leave good campaign literature.]

We will volunteer to phone voters [I loved doing this, too!]
especially in the battleground states:
Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada,
Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina.

Then we will VOTE. Vote in November.

And we will make sure everyone we know
gets registered and votes in November, too.
We will encourage them to vote for democracy.

Standing up now to keep our promises to America
by taking the actions above
is our best way to ensure
that when we go to the gym in 2024
to do our three workouts a week
we will still be living in a free country.

We can DO this!

Dr. Hall

In closing I offer you
the greatest poem ever written on promises:

Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.