Set January Ablaze

How many of us lose January to the ‘set-up,’ envisioning the grand schemes, plans and mechanisms by which we’ll conquer every one of our whims and be transformed? The Devil’s lie is of course, that we have all the time in the world, for sanctity, for artistry, for truth and beauty. We have all the time in the world, so one mustn’t hasten, or rush, act or create, he might whisper. Such rot. I need to abandon the sounds in pursuit of the song, the airy notions and intentions for words on the page. I need to honour my commitments in word and deed, flesh and blood and toil and sweat, rather than platitudes and weighted pauses between pieces and projects. Prayer demands no less, but in fact of course, more. Time, patience, presence, fidelity, humility, piety. January must be set ablaze, not arranged in an elegant, unlit pyre.