Turn the Page

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9, NIV). 

We’ve turned the page yet again. Another year has arrived, and here we are, staring down 2026. There have been a lot of thoughts swirling in my brain, and emotions stirring in my heart over the last couple of days as I reflect on the past year, and look forward to the coming one.

For a lot of people in my life, 2025 was a year of significant loss. A father, a home, a beloved pet, a job, a daughter, and so on. Loss is part of life, and those things have been true every year since the beginning of creation, but this year it has struck those around me in a big way.

I’ve grown close with a group of women over the last few years, and while an unlikely group, it has brought a lot of joy to my life. It has also greatly expanded my knowledge of 80s rock music, the era in which many of them spent their formidable high school years. 

One song comes to mind in particular right now: “Turn the Page”, by Bob Seger. A little research quickly shows me the song was released in the early 70s, but you get my point. Ironically, as a girl who grew up in the 90s, I’m most familiar with the cover released in 1998 by Metallica.

A quick Google search gives you all kinds of information about the lyrics, and the meaning behind Seger’s emotional ballad. This song was born out of an experience that left him “feeling alienated at a truck stop.” This is a brief description of the meaning behind the song: 

“Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” is about the grueling, lonely, and often harsh reality of life on the road as a touring musician, capturing the weariness, isolation, unwanted attention, and longing for home, as well as the disconnect between performers and fans (emphasis mine.)^`1”

Maybe life has been a lot like this song, and you’ve found yourself feeling a lot like Bob. The realities of life are often harsh. Sometimes the road we’re called to travel is long, and lonely. Often we’re left feeling weary, and longing for home. 

For many, home is the place where, despite the nature of your experience, your roots run deep. You feel connected in a way that’s difficult to explain, yet so easy to comprehend when you talk to others who have those same feelings and yearnings for home. Despite not returning full-time since leaving for college years ago, The Burg will always be home for me in a worldly sense. 

I want to challenge you today to think about home in an eternal sense. Nobody likes to think about loss, or death, but it’s critical, because when we do, it changes the way we live today. 

As we step into 2026, do you know where your eternal home will be? Growing up in the Catholic Church, I can recall many times hearing The Requiem Prayer at funerals: 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of all the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

I love that prayer. The line “let perpetual light shine upon them” always reminded my heart that Jesus is our perpetual light and hope. When it comes to eternal rest, I have good and bad news. 

The bad news: No amount of human effort, striving to be a good person, showing up on Sunday’s, or “doing your penance” is enough to grant you eternal rest in our heavenly home. 

The Good News of the Gospel: We are granted eternal rest, and His perpetual light will shine upon us only because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross. 

Jesus + Nothing = Everything.

As we turn the page into 2026, may you thoughtfully ask yourself: Where is home? No matter what your past looks like, no matter what you’ve done, how far gone you feel, or how big of a mess your life is right now, you can leave it all behind by stepping into 2026 with Jesus.  

Romans 10:9 tells us: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the ransom for our sins, and because that is true, our salvation is dependent only on our profession of faith, and acceptance of Christ into our hearts. 

Don’t be afraid to pray this prayer in your heart today. Tell a trusted friend. Consider stepping into the waters of baptism. It will be the best, and most important, decision of your life. 

1. Google search. Accessed January 2, 2026. https://www.google.com/search?q=here%2Bi%2Bgo%2Bturn%2Bthe%2Bpage%2Bwhat%2Bis%2Bthe%2Bsong%2Babout&oq=here%2Bi%2Bgo%2Bturn%2Bthe%2Bpage%2Bwhat%2Bis%2Bthe%2Bsong%2Babout&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRigATIHCAUQIRirAjIHCAYQIRiPAtIBCDc0MjBqMGo5qAIGsAIB8QWsBTCWK-HAUg&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8.