By Ife. J. Ibitayo
I’ve been replaying the highlights of 2021 in my head a lot. Like a CD on repeat, I first think:
2021 was a terrible year. It started with horrific loneliness. For months I didn’t see any of my friends or family members. I would often call up my mom because “I just needed to talk.” Then followed the most stressful months of work I’ve ever had on the job. I shouldered a workload that would have been reserved for a whole team if I were working at a larger company. Then spring gave way to a summer of crushing rejection. I was rejected romantically and disappointed professionally. Then my year wrapped up with someone in my family being diagnosed with cancer and an SUV nearly running me over.
Another Year
But then I hit the pause button and flip over to the B-side of my memories, and I start the recording over again:
2021 was a tremendous year! It was a year of firsts: my first publication, my first date, and my first raise. From when I got vaccinated in last April, the world popped with technicolor and neon light. I was finally able to return to church, eating out, and hanging out. It was a year of healing. The high blood pressure I was diagnosed with in late 2020 vanished by early 2021 for no apparent reason. The anxiety and stress I’ve struggled with for the past several years dissipated as the LORD filled me with His peace. A family member of mine recovered miraculously from an invasive surgery. And God protected me from a speeding SUV that decided it liked the sidewalk better than the highway!
Which version of 2021 is reality? Was it a terrible year with glimpses of the tremendous or a tremendous year with flashes of the terrible?
Conclusion
CNN’s 2021 “Year in Pictures” captures a glimpse of the global lows and highs of these past twelve months. 2021 was the year of Delta and Omicron, capitol rioting, and the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, but it was also the year of record high vaccinations, the completion of the 2020 Summer Olympics, and the conviction of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers. It was a year of tears for everyone, both of sorrow and of joy.
When I look back on 2021, I don’t think I’ll ever recollect it fondly. Yet I know it was profoundly important. I’ve seen myself from new vantage points that I didn’t have the perspective for last year. These trials have exercised my soul in ways my pleasant childhood never could have. And I’ve seen a similar pattern among my friends and family members as well.
New leaders have stepped up in church and the community. A complacent generation has been roused to its feet by being forced to its knees. And an unrelenting virus has breathed new life into spiritual realities by taking our breath away.
“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
(Romans 8:28-29)