Time to get started. Think of what parts of your life you need to change next year. Yes, it’s just a few days away. Write them down. Print the list. Post it where you can easily see your personal promises every day. But there are party’s to go to. Ring the bell, watch it drop; 4,3,2,1, Happy New Year. One more drink. Rose Bowl Parade to watch.
Oh, the years that I’ve made resolutions only to forget and neglect to keep those “promises” a few days into the new year. So, we say to ourselves that this year will be different. Why oh why do we do such things? Party like crazy. Then make promises we don’t keep, and we do it year after year. Slow learners?
We know. We know, we know we do wrong. We know we should do better. This knowledge is built into us as humans. We know there are things in our life that should be and could be changed, and so we try, but only to fail again. And that’s been the human condition ever since those first two humans failed, so the Everlasting Almighty Redeemer was sent to rescue us and Save us from our sinful ways.
Some background.
“New Year’s Day celebrations began in pre-Christian times, beginning with the Babylonians in March but changed to January by the Romans. January gets its name from Janus, the two-faced god who looks backward into the old year and forwards into the new. Janus was also the patron and protector of arches (Ianus in Latin), gates, doors, doorways, endings, and beginnings. He was also the patron of bridges, and we see this statue (pictured at left,) set on the bridge Ponte Fabricio which crosses the Tiber River in Rome to Tiber Island, where it survives from its original construction in 62 BC during the time of Julius Caesar. Even today it is believed that if you touch the Janus head as you cross the bridge, it will bring good fortune.” [1]
For early Christians, the first day of the new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future. In 1740, the English clergyman John Wesley, founder of Methodism, created the Covenant Renewal Service, most commonly held on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Also known as known as watch night services, they included readings from Scriptures and hymn singing, and served as a spiritual alternative to the raucous celebrations normally held to celebrate the coming of the new year. Now popular within evangelical Protestant churches, especially African-American denominations and congregations, watch night services held on New Year’s Eve are often spent praying and making resolutions for the coming year. [2]
[1] http://billpetro.com/history-of-new-years-resolutions
[2] http://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions
One Day at a Time 