January’s worship theme is TRANSFORMATION.
Say goodbye to 2016, and welcome 2017! We have come to the end, and thus the beginning, of our annual cycle. The days, which have been getting shorter since July, are now getting longer. Light increases as the sun rises higher on the horizon. You may be wondering: have we always celebrated the new year this way, and at this time of year?
Ancient cultures typically began each year on either an agricultural or astronomical event; or in some cases, both. In Egypt, the year began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided with the rising of the star Sirius. Other cultures began their new year at winter solstice, celebrating the rebirth of the sun; however, for many early agrarian societies, who measured years by crop cycles, the new year began on or near the vernal equinox – when new crops were planted.
Nevertheless, whether celebrating the new year at the turning of the sun or the turning of the soil, it has always been a time of starting over. It is a time to reassess, to look back over the year that is ending – at our accomplishments as well as lessons learned – and to look forward to what the new year may bring.
This tradition of looking back and looking forward, as well as the origin of New Year’s resolutions, is very old – dating back 4.000 years to ancient Babylonia – although the Babylonians began each year on the first new moon after the vernal equinox.
It was Julius Caesar who finally unified the western world by moving the beginning of the year to January 1st. In doing so, he standardized to the solar year; but by slipping the date from the winter solstice to the beginning of the month honoring the god Janus – the Greek and Roman god who represented beginnings, endings, and transitions – the god whose two faces allowed him to simultaneously look into both the past and the future; he also ensured the continued observance of Babylonian traditions.
Americans, eternal optimists that we are, tend to look at the new year as clean slate, a new beginning. Anything is possible! And many of us still celebrate the ancient Babylonian ritual of making New Year’s resolutions. For many of us, it is particularly important this year to put the past behind us. What’s done is done. It’s time to pick up the pieces of the past and transform them into bright new beginnings.
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions yet? What do you want to transform, or to transform you, this year? Come explore the power of transformation with us this month!