Happy Year, Old and New!

I’ll be honest. This year, it has been a bit of a challenge for me to tow my usual “New Year” line.

In the past, I have, in both written posts and sermons I have presented, railed against the “good riddance” mindset that seems to accompany the end of every year. What a surprise it was for me to learn on my Christmas visit to New York City that Times Square was actually the location of an annual “Good Riddance” event hosted by one of the local TV stations, where people could come and purge themselves of any negativity from the last year to cleanse their attitudes for the approaching one.

Of course it makes sense to clear out old stuff to prepare for new. It’s the “write-off” part of the “good riddance” attitude that always has bothered me, though. I have always been a bit uncomfortable with our collective willingness to say that an entire year, from start to finish, sucked enough to want to trash it thoroughly and completely. I have always maintained that even one moment of joy in a year meant that the year could not be a total write-off, and certainly not something to urge “good riddance” to.

Could we learn to actually appreciate that our darkest moments usually do occur right alongside our brightest moments, and likely lead us to our greatest evolution and expression?

Could we learn to see that saying, or even thinking, “good riddance,” to a year is spiritually trashing all of the growth possibilities that could have come from our darkest moments in the year, had we allowed ourselves the opportunity to see things from another, more positive, perspective?

I know that I could become annoying in my attempt to push back at the steamroller of cultural determination to hate every and any year we were ending in order to be excited about the year that was beginning. And as 2023 came to a close, I found the words “good riddance” floating around in my head about it. I also realized that entertaining those words — for even a brief moment — made me understand just how easy it would be to keep, promote and perpetuate this thought. I had some pretty crappy things happen in 2023, and I could very easily decide that these experiences ruined my entire year.

“F-YOU 2023!”

“Thank God you are over, 2023!”

“2023 was a BAD year. I hope that 2024 is a GOOD year!”

As I begun to lose myself in the intoxicating fever of the “F-You 2023” spiral dance, a small, yet clear, voice rose from deep inside me, giving me a gentle but firm spiritual slap, awakening me from my hypnotic “good riddance” mantra trance.

“Hey there, Beloved…remember watching that awesome Netflix show with Wade that you guys LOVED? That was in February…”

“Oh yeah that’s right,” I recalled…”It was a transformative experience! I could never throw that away, no matter what crappy things happened this year …”

And with that thought, came quite the wave of powerful, learning, transformative, significant, teaching, fun, crazy, synchronous, ridiculous, and precious, moments and experiences I have been blessed with, and manifest, in 2023.

So as the clock struck twelve on December 31, 2023, I was able to say a heartfelt “Thank You” to the year in my rear view. And as I quietly and expectantly celebrated the first moments of January 1, 2024 with those I love, I could whisper — with hope, excitement and yes, a dash of apprehension — “Let’s do this” to the year that would unfold ahead.

A “Happy Year,” old OR new, is, and always has been, up to me!

No "riddance," good or otherwise, will be necessary.