In the final days of 2023, I started thinking about everything that had happened that year. At the time, I was visiting Japan with my family and some friends. We had been having many new experiences in a country very different from our own.

Although I was enjoying my vacation, I felt a little sad when I reflected on some mistakes I felt I had made throughout the year. So at times while strolling around, what I wanted was to go back to the hotel and cry.

As a Christian Scientist, I’m used to turning to God in prayer to deal with any adverse situation. And on that occasion, I sought inspiration from God to overcome this sadness. Since we were approaching the arrival of the new year, I looked in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, for the spiritual meaning of the word year. It says in the Glossary: “Year. A solar measurement of time; mortality; space for repentance.