Truth be told, I make quite a few resolutions throughout the year. The many changes I intend cannot wait until the last day of December–so all year I need to offer myself “helpful” advice and make renewed commitments to change my lifestyle to include the healthy habits I believe in. I turn over not just a new leaf, it seems, but an entire rainforest–promising to exercise more regularly, to listen actively, to be patient, to shed not just the extra pounds, but also the extra-heavy burdens of negative thought, hasty word, and fruitless deed. These bits of self-reflection result in a return to the path for a time, but I seem to relapse with dismaying regularity.

I suspect others have similar challenges in living their versions of lives of integrity. Vince’s sermon about value on December 20 challenged me to think about New Year’s resolutions differently. What if, in these waning days of December and early days of the new year, I deepen my resolutions? What if I resolve to incorporate a congruent value system, not just to adopt the usual resolutions to eliminate bad habits or to address the gradual slippage of healthy practice?

I admire the value system that underlies the celebration of Kwanzaa. The observance December 26-January 1 is centered in the seven principles. These ideals formed the structure of early African societies and are celebrated and affirmed by the Africa diaspora communities wherever they are today. With the new year comes the central question of Kwanzaa: “What’s the news?” Candles on the kinara are lighted as the principles form the answers, a new one for every day. The participants who celebrate their African heritage renew their resolve to live from the values of unity (action that benefits the whole of the community), self-determination (making positive choices for self), collective work (helping others), cooperative economics (supporting businesses that work for the whole community), purpose (settings goals for the entire community), creativity (making the world more beautiful), and faith (believing that a better world can be created for all). Such a positive and empowering set of principles certainly is a cause for celebration.

“Kwanzaa” in Swahili means “first fruits of the harvest.” It is an invitation to bring the best and finest of our lives’ blessings and opportunities forward and into the new year, for the sake of all. It feels inviting and challenging to assent to such profound principles. May the resolutions we make in this new year be based in a spirit of unity, welcome, and sense of justice for all.