New Year’s Day greeted me with an unusual quiet. When I stepped outside to feed the birds, not one was in sight. The stillness felt almost symbolic—like the calm before a storm. I went back inside and decided it was a day best spent at home.
As I reflected on the quiet, a moment in the Bible came to mind. It was when Jesus’ disciples asked about the signs of the last days. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Scripture has left us many clues. These are breadcrumbs of clarity scattered throughout its pages.
I considered the early calendars. Genesis chapters seven and eight point to a year that began in what we now call February. The Roman calendar, reformed by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, originally had ten months. After Jerusalem fell in 70 AD and the Jews were scattered, the Roman Empire imposed the Julian calendar. But even that system didn’t align perfectly with the seasons. To understand why the Jewish New Year falls between September and October, one must look at their original calendar. In that calendar, the first month—called Abib or Nisan—aligned with the lunar cycle and agricultural seasons. This timing roughly corresponds to March. Jesus’ words in Mark 13 indicate signs. Revelation 21 talks about promised changes. Ecclesiastes 1:10-11 offers timeless reflections. The signs have always been there.
People, too, leave signs—small gestures, habits, and contradictions that reveal what they truly feel or fear. As an author, I’ve learned this through my own writing. Some speak from truth, but many speak from survival, ego, or fear. The overly kind may be terrified of rejection. The strong may be quietly falling apart, as I learned from reading my late sister’s diary. Often, people aren’t hiding from us—they’re hiding from themselves. The masks they wear aren’t lies but survival tools, shaped by a world that punishes honesty and rewards polished illusions.
If you pay attention, repeated habits—avoidance, overworking, flirtation, emotional distance—are confessions in disguise. When you learn to listen to patterns rather than words, truth reveals itself long before it’s spoken. And once you see beyond the mask, empathy replaces judgment, and honesty becomes easier to practice.
What irritates us in others’ dishonesty, arrogance, and lack of self-control often reflects something within ourselves. So, stand for truth. Speak against violence. With age comes the wisdom to see what younger minds frequently miss. We begin to understand people’s indifference, their wounds, and the parts of themselves they abandoned long ago. Sometimes, when someone attacks you without cause, it’s because they see something in you they admire. They believe they cannot embody this admirable trait.
Of course, aging also reminds us that strength fades. Wisdom, then, is knowing when to step forward—and when to gracefully bow out. Ideally, before your joints file an official complaint.
2026, I am here hoping the year has found you, my readers, experiencing renewed hope. Thank you for reading.
Better The End 