Celebrating the New Year has meant many things over the years, but it has never really meant that much. It was mostly a night of broken promises followed by a day of either being very tired or very hungover.
If you were able to look at New Year's Day from an omnisicant point of view, I doubt there would even be a hint of demarkation between what we consider one year or the next.
Merry Christmas...
From that perspective, though, there is one event that is a dividing line in time. It was the time when God broke into human history and every reality that ever existed shifted that night.
Historians and astronomers have a pretty good idea of the year and the season that Jesus was born, but even if they are not in agreement on when He was born they ARE in agreement of when he was NOT born. It is no longer controversy to say the Messiah's birthay is not December 25th.
"renovated with life, my eyes again bright, and You are radiant."
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Happy New Year....
The season of Advent starts the fourth Sunday before December 25. That is a real date. While the Church looks to Christ each and every day, this time is set aside as a speical time to remember the Hope of the Jews as they awaiting their Messiah. We celebrate the Nativity of our Lord. It is also a time that we look toward His return. We prepare our hearts in a special way for his return.
Today is the first Sunday of Advent and it is also the first day of the Church's New Year.
"Where hope can hold the hand of sorrow and we can walk into tomorrow..."
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I am done with the traditional New Year. It has become a meaningless night of binge. Sort of a warm up for Fat Tuesday...
Today is my Church's New Year. All aroud the world we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent -- the first Sunday of our New Year. I didn't spend last night making promises I knew I couldn't keep and today was a heartbreaking day - certainly not the kind of day you would want to start your year off - especially if it were January 1.
But I can embrace this day as the beginning of my New Year and I will begin my year, not with a day, but with a seaon of preparation. A season of working through who I was, who I am... and who I want to be. I can do that because many years ago God broke into human history - invaded mankind to bring us hope and peace... to bring me Hope and Peace.
Today is my New Year. Happy New Year....."Where peace is found in troubled days and the joy of Jesus carries pain..."
Danny Butler November 27, 2011 _____________________________________________________________
My heart beats like a drum, flying up with the sunI grab Your hand againRenovated with life, my eyes again brightAnd You are radiantWhere hope can hold my hand of sorrowAnd we can walk into tomorrowWhere peace is found in troubled daysAnd the joy of Jesus carries painThis is a new year, this is a new day to riseShine, lift up your eyesThis is a new year, this is a new day to riseShine and point the way to God's great lifeI'm held in a place, a beautiful spaceWhere heaven meets the earthMy heart opens wide and the Father pours lifeDeep inside my soulCharlie Hall - New Year.
