New Year's Resolutions from the Homeless.

Submitted by Jeremy Reynalds

Note from C. E. Strain: I met Jeremy over 25 years ago when he first came to the USA. Since that time he has founded and directs a homeless shelter in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As we think of New Years resolutions, Jeremy has New Years resolutions from the homeless. There are many people in America that are only 3 paychecks away from homeless. Consider helping this work with a donation as it helps others. A donation at their web site is a great start for you as a New Years resolution. Go to thier web site at Joy Junction

With Thanksgiving and Christmas behind us, it's time to start thinking about the new year and with that thought of course comes the seemingly inevitable subject of new year's resolutions. You know, stuff like resolving to be a better person, changing jobs, quitting smoking, eating less and exercising more, or some other personal goal that we hope to achieve in the upcoming year. While we all know that usually these well-intentioned resolutions don't last past the first few days of January, we keep on making them all the same.

It's no secret that intending to eat less and exercise more are probably two of the most popular resolutions. Sometimes the resolve to exercise more is motivated by a well-meaning relative or friend giving a gym membership or perhaps a gift of a half-dozen lessons with a trainer. Yesterday our pastor commented that he was talking with some people at the gym about how the first two or three weeks of January are always bustling with new members, but as the month wears on the number of new members falls accordingly. The new year quickly turns into just another year, with all those good intentions put off till next year.

With resolutions generally being such a dismal failure, I was wondering how (and why?!) we came up with the concept. With that in mind, I did a little on-line research about new year's resolutions and found that the tradition dates back over four thousand years to the time of the early Babylonians.

Apparently the most popular resolution back then for the Babylonians was to return borrowed farm equipment. To correspond with the spring planting of their crops, the Babylonians celebrated in March rather than in January.

One humorist wrote, "So if you must break your resolution, break it with pride! You'll be continuing a long tradition of broken resolutions dating back to the dawn of recorded history! And if you had a false start, why you can start again in March, à la Babylonia!"

I thought I'd do a quick survey about what some of the homeless guests who stay at Joy Junction (the homeless shelter I founded and direct in Albuquerque, New Mexico) had to say about new year's resolutions. I was wondering if they bothered to make resolutions at all and if they did so, did they just make ones just for fun that they had absolutely no expectation at all of keeping?

Reading through the written responses from our guests, I found that their resolutions were much more serious than the ones we typically think about and much more profound than the ones typically offered on internet sites and other media.

For example. One guest wrote that her resolution is "to stay clean
throughout the year coming up, for myself first children first and second for my children because if I don't do it for myself first I can't do it for them."

This lady added that she also wants to continue helping others needing help because by so doing she may help someone change their life. And "it makes me feel good inside, "she wrote.

In an equally touching comment, someone else wrote that "It is my hope that the Lord will work through me to bring non believers to Christ."

Another guest wrote that her goal for the new year is to "restore my family's spirit financially, spiritually and emotionally. To really know that through Christ anything is possible."

This guest added that she wants to "build a home for our children, to be successful in a job that pays well and also is fulfilling to do! And to walk as one with my husband as a team rather than two people."

Then while one lady had some of the usual resolutions that we make, laugh about and usually fail to keep, she also had some more profound ones. She wrote that wants to better herself from the inside out "that I may be able to treat others, as well as myself, the way people should be treated."

One woman's resolution was to me especially touching. She wrote that in 2002 she wants to "get closer to God ... and make my marriage work when my husband gets out of prison." She wrote that she hopes to accomplish this by "walking beside God."

Unlike the traditional new year's resolutions we see discussed on line and by the media, those resolutions penned by the guests staying at Joy Junction will probably never find their way into public prominence. But maybe Albuquerque, America and the world would be a better place if we paid as much attention to new year's resolutions penned by the homeless as we do to what appears on the internet.

Jeremy frequently gets asked for "success stories" of guests who have stayed at the shelter and made a successful transition back to society. He told the Echo that a couple of months ago he was out with his family when an elderly gentleman came up to him and asked if he knew who he was.

The man told Reynalds he was one of Joy Junction's first guests, way back in 1986. He said he was doing great and earning $43,000 a year. Then he said he was so glad to have this chance to come up to me and say thank you. We hope we are making a difference. But it's not often that you get the chance to know.

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