If properly approached, the beginning of a new year can be beneficial to our psyche,
beneficial to our health, and beneficial to our soul.
However, as the years go by, Father Time becomes more of a caricature, and we pay less and less attention to the intention of the season, don’t we?
Without the fol-de-rol of late night parties, New year’s Eve is of little importance to the on-going nature of our lives.
We have no ceremony for this time of year, when a youngster may ask, “Why is this night, of all nights, important to us?”
But, maybe we should.
For this could be a teaching moment for all of us.
As I have noted before, most of us carry around way too much baggage. We tend to tote pounds and pounds of grudges, animosity, resentment, and revenge, don’t we?
And, we know it’s unhealthy.
Doctors tell us.
Ministers tell us.
Researchers tell us.
Some friends tell us.
Our blood pressure is affected.
Our cholesterol is affected.
Our heart rate is affected.
Our mood is affected.
Our relationships are affected.
Our outlook is affected.
Our immune system is affected.
We become more prone to disease.
We become more prone to mental disorder.
We become more prone to grumpiness.
And, our life is not what it could be.
Our life is not what it should be.
Our life is not what it is promised to be.
Dr. Bernie Siegel reminds us that there seems to be an innate desire in all humans to be reborn, to start again,
to make resolutions and changes we can live up to.
He notes that he sees evidence of this deep seeded desire
“every day in my role as a physician:
People learn they have a limited time to live, and they start their New Year behavior.
They move, change jobs, spend more time with those they love, stop worrying about what everyone else thinks of them, and start to celebrate their life. They are grateful for the time they have to enjoy life and they stop whining about what they wish had happened during the past year.”
So, he notes: we don’t need to wait for that one certain day of the year.
Dr. Siegel suggests that everyday can be the beginning of a new year.
When every evening is New Year’s Eve and every day you awaken is New Year’s Day, you are living life as it was intended.
For me, this is the message of the new year.
As Paul reminds us in Colossians, it is time to put to death old attitudes and agendas.
Then, the new year has meaning.
Then, the new life we are promised is closer to being fulfilled.
In this way, we nurture our soul.
And, when our soul is tended, our health is better and our future is brighter.
Then, and only then, can we truly welcome the new year and the days ahead.
We know them to be the fulfillment of God’s time.
This is the day the Lord has made.
When every evening is New Year’s Eve and every day you awaken is New Year’s Day, you are living life as it was intended
