Another season has come and gone. Promises that were made have not been fulfilled. Good intentions haven’t yielded any tangible results. Dreams have not come true. High hopes have proven to be only wishful thinking. Nothing has really changed; nothing has really improved. The time keeps moving along, but we seem stuck in the same ruts. Old routines remain, prejudices persist, dullness and anxiety continue to be constant companions. Lingering in the air is that nagging sense that things aren’t quite right, not as they could be, not as they should be. As Jeremiah says, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (8:20). Time has moved along, the seasons are changing, but nothing has really changed for us. Same old people in the same old lives. Sin still has us in its gri…