Blank page

Yes, I know what I'm going to say is already dated in this 24x7 immediacy world in which we live. But that's what happens after days of head-cold-induced sleep deprivation. Anyway, to my point. Yesterday, 1/1, I pulled off the last page of my John Paul II quote-a-day calendar and behind it was ... a blank page. This is interesting in two ways. One, I'd expected an advertisement for something. Two, it was like a perfect rendition of what January 1 represents - a new start, a blank slate.

It also served as a reminder of the wonderful blessing of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and how we are given a blank page to work on afterwards. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Is 1:18)

And again, it provided pause to consider the greatest slate-wiping succession of events ever in creation - the Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. How perfectly coincidental that this should come so closely after we celebrate the beginning of this miraculous sequence.

Amazing, is it not, how much God can make out of ... nothing?