2023: A Year in review
Mar a bha e
Life
If you had asked me at the end of 2022 whether I was looking forward to 2023 and thought it would be better than 2022, I would have said not at all. I didn’t have any reason to think the difficulties of 2022 would improve in 2023.
And here we are at the end of 2023, and I am in fact looking forward to 2024, not because I think external circumstances are going to better. As it happens, I do think the externals of my life will probably be slightly better in 2024, but who can really say that with any confidence? Chronic or acute health crises, accidents, or deaths could all be just around the corner.
But here’s one thing I have learnt, which means that whether life is better or worse externally, life with God is always better because God is always good. It’s a thing I suppose that I have known for a long time, but needed to learn in a much deeper and richer way. That lesson is simple: that my greatest treasure, deepest joy, highest love, enduring comfort, sure and secure hope, strongest refuge, is God himself. And that knowing this, I can face anything. I can gain the world or lose the world, if I have Christ. I can walk through the fire, if I have Christ. I can take each day's sorrows as they come, if I have Christ. It's the secret that Paul learnt (Phil 4.11). So, I can also say with confidence that I am looking forward to 2024. I fully expect that I will keep carrying some sorrows and tears into the new year. But still, it's a new year, and I know that every day is a gift from God, in which I can enjoy and delight in God himself. And if I die on Jan 1st, I cannot lose the one thing that cannot be lost - God himself. I will be raised to resurrection life in the new creation to enjoy God and glorify him forever. And if I don't die on Jan 1st, I have one more day to love God, enjoy him, and love the world and the people in it, as much as I am able.
So, yes, I’m thankful for the lessons of 2023, I’m thankful for the year it’s been, I’m thankful for personal growth, and I’m looking forward to the future with hope.
I don't write much about parenting life, partly because any sharing about being a parent is inevitably disclosure about my child, who may not look back with great fondness about having their upbringing shared on the internet. Suffice to say that it has been a challenging and frustrating year attempting to raise this child and figure out what are the best strategies and ways of helping them navigate life.
Books
(You can see a full list of 2023 books on the review index page)
If Keller's Forgive was a personally meaningful and helpful book in 2022, it was his Walking with God through Pain and Suffering that was one of my stand-out books that I read in 2023. I think that it provided a constellation of insights that were tremendously beneficial to me, and continue to be centres of gravity around which my reflections orbit. In particular, the providence of God bound up in his goodness and sovereignty; the way our heart makes idols out of pretty much anything; the notion that whatever the reason for things happening in life, the Cross teaches us that it's never because God doesn't love us; the hope of a restoration of all things and a working of all things for good that is beyond our wisdom and sight. I read this book twice this year. Firstly, shortly after Keller died. I was quite moved at his death, and it prompted me to dive deeper into his writings, and that has been a wonderful blessing. I read it a second time later in the year, revisiting and re-imbibing the rich truths in this book.
Some of my other favourite books from 2023 include:
Victor Lee Austin on Friendship. Such a rich and deep take on friendship. Still the best book on friendship I’ve read.
The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing by Jonathan T. Pennington, which opened up Matt 5-7 in such an insightful new way for me.
All year I have been reading John Harris’s One Blood, which is a history of Christianity and Aboriginal Australia. It’s over a thousand pages, and it’s a slow read. Not because it’s poorly written or anything. Just because it’s so depressing. You have to keep putting it down because it’s so sad. I’ve read 76% now, and made it to the 20th century, which is a sad and depressing section in a whole new way. I hope to finish it in early 2024, and write a bit more about it.
One of the nice things about the end of the year is that every blog and their dog posts “best books of 2023”, which is a great time to add a bunch of books to my “reading for 2024” list!
Posts
Here are the top posts on Subversive Compliance (by view-count, excluding some statistical anomalies)
I think that’s not a bad cross-section of some of the dominant themes here!
Thanks
Thanks to you all for reading. Extra thanks for my paid subscribers, it means a lot to me that you've put money down to show your appreciation and support. Thanks for every comment, like, and email-reply - they are all warmly received and appreciated.
December Song of the Month
I think this is an incredible song. Too incredible not to share. So raw, so powerful. The spotify version does have a swear word, which if you are the very sensitive sort you might not like, or if you have children around. In which case, this version is for you.
There’s a few live versions on youtube, which are all excellent.
Over to you:
As the new year starts, I'd love to hear from you, whether you're a long-time reader or a new subscriber. If you got this in email form you can just hit reply and it will come to me. I'd love to hear: what's one post that really helped/encouraged/challenged you? What's one topic or book you'd love to see next year?
children of love and peace:
the lord of glory and all grace
be with your spirit
New Year’s Greetings from here:
