The old year is gone, and a new year has begun. This is sure: What it holds for us is unknown. 

Do you remember Que Sera, Sera, the signature song of Doris Day? That song arrived at the conclusion that “The future’s not ours to see,” and it isn’t, for “what is to be, will be.”

At this point, the year ahead is blank. With neither “piety nor wit,” can we look forward and know what it holds for us. The future is always an unknown quantity.

While “the future’s not our to see,” amid the uncertainties of life there are some certainties. With confidence, we can rely on them to guide us in the year ahead.

Life is a mixture of sunshine and shadow; therefore the New Year will be a mixture of many things. Some of those things will be unpleasant, but some of them will be pleasant. Based on what has been, there will be more pleasant things than unpleasant ones. After the storm, there is calm. The clouds disappear and the sun shines. That’s the norm of life. Although there are problems along the way, basically life will be good and pleasant.

In all of the uncertainty we face, there is another certainty: things are not always what they first appear to be. They can be turned around. Beyond the pain there is pleasure. 

Almost 31 years ago, I went to the doctor following a little surgical procedure. What he saw was not pleasant. An infection had developed.  His words were, “This will hurt, but it will lead to healing.” And it did.  That’s life, isn’t it?  What at first appears to be bad and hurtful, turns out to be pleasant and good. It happens so often.

Because of those certainties, the New Year can be faced with absolute confidence and hope. I will not get everything I want, but I am confident of this:  beyond any pain, life will be good.