The river keeps rolling south, steady as ever. The bridge lights shimmer. Fireworks may still crack the sky, but beneath them, the city is taking stock. It hasn't been an easy year. The National Guard came, and they're still here. Reminder that things are fragile, that safety and trust take work. Even our sports teams, usually a source of shared joy, gave us more heartache than highlights.
New Year's Eve invites us to look back without flinching and forward without giving up. The gift of a new year is not a promise that everything will be better, but the chance to be better, more patient, more generous, more committed to one another. Hope in Memphis is practical. It looks like people who refuse to quit on their city, like small acts of kindness that add up to something larger than fear.
As midnight approaches, my wish for you is simple. Hold on to what gives you strength, let go of what weighs you down, and step into the new year believing not naively, but faithfully, that this city and these people are still worth loving. From Memphis, here's to another chance. This is Dr. Scott Morris for Church Health.
