In my early days as a cantor and church soloist, I worked in a congregation affiliated with Unity School of Christianity.  It just so happened that that was also my denominational affiliation at the time.  I always think about those days around the New Year, because I do miss the rhythm of having a New Year’s Eve Service and church party every year.

One of the things Unity used to be best at was the creation of simple songs set to familiar, catchy tunes that would stick in your head and just never ever leave.  While singing and worshiping there, I often had the opportunity to lead the congregation in such great works of the sacred music genre as Carmen Moshier’s  “Say Yes to Life”.   The lyrics were deep and meaningful:

Refrain:

Say yes to life,
Say yes to life,
Say yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes|
To life.
Say yes to life,
Say yes to life
Say yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Verse:

Say no more no’s,
Say no more no’s,
Say no more no’s,
Say no more no’s,
Say yes to life,
Say yes to life,
Say yes!

(Repeat refrain)

In case you can’t tell, as I recount this to you, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek.  But this song was a big favorite with both the minister and the congregation — they particularly liked the opportunity to yell “Say Yes!” at the end of the song.  I suppose you just had to be there.

But today, as I try to gather my thoughts and my projects for the beginning of 2013, I regret to admit that I have had Carmen’s big hit running through my brain all day long.

You see, it occurs to me that for a lot of reasons that I won’t bore you with, I’ve been saying a lot of no’s.  I know that may be hard for some of you to believe, those who know me as a person that rarely says no to anything and as a person who seems to yes when I probably should say no.  But believe me, I have been saying a lot of unspoken no’s, making a lot of choices that were not in keeping with my calling and my beliefs and what I know I should be doing.

And I’m here to say this to 2013:  this is the year of yes — a lot of real yes’s, the kind of yes’s that I have only recently learned to say.  This is the year of yes even when that yes is not popular, or when that yes causes me to be out of step with those around me, or when that yes looks crazy and makes me feel like I’ve put myself on the outside.  This is the year of being true to my calling,  a calling I am much better able to discern and understand when I am not so busy saying no when I should be saying yes (oh my, won’t the grammar check on this blog go crazy over that last sentence).  This is the year when I say Yes to God, not just to the people around me.

I have no idea where this change will take me, but it is a change whose time has come.   So to quote the great sage Carmen Moshier one more time, 2013 is the year when I say no more no’s.  Say yes to life, people, say yes.