Happy New Year

Forever, that sentiment has puzzled me. I was not schooled on the good fortune of a new year. Life began on your birthday, and your "new year" was on that anniversary each year. I say the "Happy New Year" greeting (feeling somewhat wierd) to those I meet in my daily outings, and here on the blog. Everywhere I visit are celebrations of the New Year.

As I try to figure out my lack of enthusiasm for this day, maybe it's that I listened too well to the teachings of the Old Testament when taught as a young child. The new year was celebrated with great anticipation in old testament times, mostly looking forward to the Jubilee year. It came in sevenths. On the seventh year, a Sabbatical was celebrated, farmers were to leave their land fallow until the next year. A rest period, kind of a type and shadow of the creation, I suppose. Then after the seventh sabbatical, the year of Jubilee was celebrated in the fiftieth year. Great things happened. Mostly with land ownership. Debts were forgiven and clean slates were made. A new approach applied and life was to improve.

Those are the things I remember being taught as I traversed the religious background of my childhood. We didn't have a definite religion, and visited just about anyone who had open doors when I was growing up. You name the church, I visited it, at one time or another. [I never did go to a Scientology place, as I didn't know about their existence until they purchased the land at the end of the valley. Yes folks, I live in Scientology land. The little robots(at least that what they seem like to me) are all over the place.] The year of jubilee came and went in our modern society yet debts were not forgiven. We've replaced the valued traditions of old with simple parties and "new beginnings". Salutations and celebrations have replaced true caring and forgiveness, especially empathy. The shadow of the creation has been replaced with the stark brightness of the new age, personal effort and amazing ability to intellectualize our existence.

Can you understand my confusion? I do care. The world needs a little more caring. From all of us. What I wish this new year, is a little more empathy, caring and concern. Instead of looking at the beggar with disdain, can we ask ourselves why? What put them there? Can we try, in this new year, to reach out more to others, really truly look them in the eye and ask the hard questions? You know the questions, the ones that will make you stretch forth your hand in fellowship, and true concern for the well being of others. The questions that look beyond the simple straight forward answers of "fine" or "just great" and move to real answers given because they feel your concern. Can we make each other just a little less anonymous, objectified? I think if we do, our lives, and the lives of those we reach out to, will be better.

So in this new year, I really do wish your dreams come true. That your empty longings will find fulfillment and that you will fill yourself with the love you are seeking. By giving, we receive. So give, give more than you ever expected, and reap the rewards you never knew existed.