I have written in the past how Christmas is okay, despite the yearly posts on FB and other places about how it is “pagan” or something. (I have written numerous posts on Christmas. Here is one of many: https://munsonmissions.org/2018/12/17/some-kind-of-ironic-great-things-about-christmas/)

I have also written reasons why other holidays that have “pagan connections” may not necessarily be bad. https://munsonmissions.org/2019/10/27/what-do-we-do-with-all-them-pagan-holidays/

Strangely, I have never had too many problems with these… in fact I believe that celebration is, for a lack of a better term… Good. https://munsonmissions.org/2020/02/16/a-theology-of-celebration-part-i/

But there are two celebrations that I have struggled with. One of these is (speaking as an American) all of those patriotic holidays (Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Armed Forces Day, and so forth). I am not against some level of patriotic holidays— I live in the Philippines, where there are several such Philippine holidays and I don’t see a problem with them. But in the US, it seems like these holidays gradually get transformed into military holidays. I am a military veteran… but while I wouldn’t necessary see the military as a “necessary evil,” it is far less than “good.” One celebration a year is more than enough in my view. If you think it is not enough— fine… we can have two. I think two is definitely enough, if not too much. <Oh yeah. This post is on a different topic. Let’s get back to that.>

The other holiday I have had an issue with was New Years (I will let others fight over whether the American holiday “Columbus Day” is good or bad). New Years seemed so unnecessary to me. I always felt like it celebrated nothing. The earth spins as it moves in an elliptical path around the sun… and we choose to randomly pick one of those spins to celebrate— one like every other spin.

In the West, celebrating tends to focus on too much drinking and making bad decisions. In the East, it often includes those same things, but adds to it lots and LOTS of gunpowder. Truthfully, it always seemed pretty “dopey” to me.

But over the years, I have changed my mind. New Years is like a birthday. Yes, I know that some groups have problems with birthdays as well, but birthdays, and other anniversaries, are milestones. They embrace the present moment to look back (honestly?) at the past, and hopefully into the future.

In a sense, it is like Holy Communion (or the Eucharist). We do it in the present (“eat this bread and drink this wine”), remembering the past (“we show Christ’s Death”), and looking hopefully to the future (“until He comes”).

Ideally New Years gives us opportunity for reflection and planning. I have never (as far as I can remember) set New Years resolutions. But I have set general goals (like write a book) or themes for a year. I think they tend to work better than resolutions anyway.

While I often hear how the Judeo-Christian perspective of history is “linear”— that is questionable at best. I think it is more accurate to say that the Judeo-Christian perspective of history is “narrative.” This means that it is centered on story— characters, themes, and plot arc. This does not in anyway compete with a cyclic understanding. God created us with a cycle of life, with cyclic days, lunar months, and seasons. Identifying points in time of these cycles— whether they be stages of life events, seasonal celebrations, or anniversaries— these help us to recognize our place in the story. It may sound contradictory, but honoring annual events like New Years can actually help us move to a narrative understanding of our lives and pull us out of a tendency to live our lives in meaningless repetition.

So whether you embrace a January 1st New Year, or a Lunar New Year, or any other particular day… REMINISCE, REFLECT, CELEBRATE, PLAN, and HOPE. And HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!