"Merry Christmas" rings out with the Salvation Army buckets and bell ringers, along with "Happy Hanukkah." The grocery store and mall are rapidly depleted of goods as people stock up for the family events. All too quickly, these cries are followed by "Happy New Year," the one holiday celebrated the world over by everyone. At this very unique time of year, we each in our own time zone let go of the past and greet the future with hopeful anticipation of even better things ahead.
I got to thinking about this holiday and what it really means this week as I reached out to someone I know only online, but for whom I hope I have been a help and support in a difficult time. Although on the surface, it appears to be a superficial day to drink too much and eat too much and party until you regret (or not,) I think there is something deeper that drives this common annual celebration across the globe.
Somewhere in the depths of our collective souls, I think the new years celebration is an attempt to reach the inner person in each one of us, and find common ground with all of humanity. New years is a reminder that wherever we are, we are living under the same sky on the same globe, and near or far, we are separated only by our own actions or inactions. All in all, people are much the same, with the same hopes, fears, joys, needs, and desires. It's a good thing to be reminded of each year, as we look at the conflict and strife across the planet.
The world is a smaller place today than it was 50 years ago. It is simple to connect with someone in Russia, or Europe, or Africa. With a few clicks of a mouse, we can be in touch with friends or family on the other side of the globe, and it costs us not a dime. And yet, in the midst of all this convenience, it sometimes seems people are more fractured and farther apart than ever. It is counter-intuitive to me that it should be so, and yet, it seems to be.
I received, in an impersonal form, a New Year's greeting from someone in South Africa this morning when I awoke. I could go online and watch the new year come in as the planet slowly turns on it's axis through the day, and celebrate over and over the dawn of a new year.
But for me, the important things are not global, but personal. I am more interested in the lives of people than the lives of nations, because people are what really matter to me. I never see the forest for the trees, and I am satisfied with that.
As we approach yet another new year, I will avoid the usual effort to make resolutions I won't keep, to eat food I don't need, and to celebrate in an empty way the turning of the calendar page. Instead, I will spend the time doing what matters most - connecting with real people both near and far that are important to me, and making myself an instrument of God's peace wherever I can. If I am the very best person I can be in 2012, then it will be a successful year, no matter what the days and months have in store for me.
Wishing each one of my readers a wonderful, joyous and festive new year! I appreciate your time in supporting my verbal flights of fancy each week, and I will strive to improve and live up to your encouragement even more fully in the coming year.
Happy 2012 to you and yours from me and mine!
