New Year, New Beginning

2020 has ended. The New Year of 2021 has begun. We are hoping for a genuine new beginning in many ways. 

Happy and Merry Tenth Day of Christmas! 

and also - and especially - 

Happy New Year! 

In this festive time 

  our hearts and minds are looking forward 

    to better days, or at least 

      what we hope will be better days. 

While last Friday was the first day of 2021, 

  it was not the first New Year's celebration 

    of recent weeks and months starting last year. 

As far as I'm aware, 

  the first New Year's celebration last year

    was October 31, 2020, Samhain, a.k.a. Halloween. 

On that occasion the Celtic New Year arrives.  

 As the wheel turns from the warm season 

  to the cold season 

    the traditional Celtic New Year begins. 

In the inland PNW 

  we really do experience it that way, 

    with Samhain marking the transition

      from warmer weather to colder weather. 

As I mentioned recently, 

  Beth once told me that the first snowfall 

    in our part of the world 

      often comes around the end of October. 

The second New Year's celebration 

  comes about a month later, 

    with the First Sunday of Advent. 

That occasion marks the beginning 

  of the Western Christian new liturgical year. 

The liturgical calendar was as important to me 

  as the secular calendar 

    for many of the years of my life and career. 

The First Sunday in Advent 

  has often been my first chance

    to wish members of the congregations I've served

      a Happy New Year, 

        even you, my dear friends of the NIUU. 

I wish my dear ones a Happy New Year 

  as early as the evening before, since that's the time 

    at which holy days begin 

      in Jewish and Christian tradition,  

        even if that means that my dear ones wonder 

          if I've lost my mind. 

Anyway... 

On December 21, we passed yet another landmark 

  that marks the start of a new solar year: 

    the Winter Solstice arrived here in the north. 

I said plenty about all that 

  the Solstice means to me last week, 

    and there are always many things to consider 

      from ancient traditions 

        about the world of nature. 

To begin with, the solstices are best understood 

  through mathematics. 

For all of us who are interested in natural science, 

  the solstices and equinoxes 

    are a source of endless fascination. 

They all result from the angle of the axis 

  around which our home planet Earth rotates. 

From ancient times 

  the calculation and prediction 

    of the arrival of the Four Seasons 

      have been sacred tasks. 

One of the first things I will hope for 

  in the coming of the New Year 

    will be the widespread recognition 

      of the sacredness of natural science 

        and mathematics for the well being of us all. 

As of now we have arrived 

  at another major celebration, 

    especially with the start of this New Year. 

Last Friday was New Year's Day, 

  and today, two days later, 

    we are still at the start of a new beginning. 

At least that's what many of us are hoping for. 

As we enter a new year, 

  we also remember the new millenium, 

    the new century, 

      and the new decade 

        we are in and have been moving 

          into and through. 

As a remarkable sign of all of these new beginnings, 

  a sign occurred in the skies 

    on the Winter Solstice this year. 

I've been hearing many people 

  refer to the celestial event 

    that coincided with the Solstice this year 

      as the Star of Bethlehem.

Many astrologers and astronomers theorize 

  that the Star of Bethlehem of the Magi, 

    the Three Wise Men, or the Three Kings 

      was none other than the convergence 

        of Jupiter and Saturn, 

          as happened last December 21. 

We are in the first years 

  of a new millenium of the Common Era. 

Around the transition 

  of the millenia and the calendar 

    from "Before the Common Era" (B.C.E.) 

      to the Common Era (C.E.) 

        the convergence of Jupiter and Saturn 

          was in the constellation of Pisces (the Fish). 

(I've learned to appreciate the designation of years 

  as B.C.E. and C.E. instead of B.C. and A.D. 

    because, to say the least, not all people 

      who use the secular calendar are Christian. 

It's easy to understand why many 

  might not appreciate the designation 

    of any given year, "Before Christ" 

      as B.C. represents

        or, "Year of our Lord," 

          as Anno Domini or A.D. represents.)  

At any rate, the world and its calendar moved into 

  the Age of Pisces, the fish, and the Fish

    became a sign of Christianity (ichthus). 

      with the transition into the Common Era. 

In our time the convergence took place 

  in the constellation of Aquarius. 

So truly this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius,

  and it has been so for about a generation. 

(My apologies if I have just given you an earworm,

  that is, a tune you can't get out of your head! LOL) 

Before you start to be concerned 

  that I'm promoting astrology and the study of it, 

    I simply believe that it's a useful way 

      of marking the times and the seasons, 

        and it's a wonderful collection of metaphors. 

It's useless for making predictions. 

(There's a fun quote from Casey Stengel 

  that I plan to use for my next sermon on January 17, 

    "Never make predictions, 

      especially about the future.") 

If we tried to use Astrology 

  to make predictions about the future, 

    it would be a pseudo-science, or a false science. 

Yet most of us use the names of the constellations, 

  at least as mnemonics, 

    to help us locate stars 

      and the movement of planets. 

In any case, 

  the current events 

    that include a planetary convergence

      provide us with an important metaphor 

        of a hopeful new beginning. 

The year of 2020 has not been all bad, 

  but most of us will not remember it 

    with undiluted pleasure 

      as Queen Elizabeth II said 

        of her annus horribilis, 

          for her the horrible year of 1992, 

            the year of a fire in Buckingham Palace 

              and the separation of Charles and Diana 

                among other calamities.  

At least one important good thing that happened 

  in 2020 was the awakening 

    of many people in the U.S. 

      to the horrible experiences 

        of those who are victims of racism. 

One symbolic event of the awakening 

  was the naming 

    of Black Lives Matter Plaza 

      in Washington, D.C. 

Major transitions in this world 

  are almost always accompanied by 

    a measure of chaos. 

That statement alone could explain 

  a lot of the things we have experienced in 2020. 

Many people all over the world 

  are trying to take refuge in an excess of order. 

And yet, law and order is not a phrase 

  that generally leads to greater civic safety. 

Quite the contrary, 

  too much order leads to rebellion, conflict, 

    and far too much chaos for anyone's safety. 

In terms of mathematics as well as social order, 

  there is a place between order and chaos. 

That place is known as complexity. 

It is a good place, 

  a place of balance, 

    a place of hope. 

If we can learn to accept the complexity of our lives, 

  we can find a place for each other 

    where we appreciate our differences 

      and learn from each other 

        even - and maybe especially - 

          in the midst of disagreements. 

As individuals and as communities we face a choice 

  even as we learn to accept 

    the complexity of our lives: 

We can choose to embrace community and sharing 

  or we can emphasize our individuality 

    and our own personal priorities. 

Those two possibilities may seem too subtle, 

  but they will be increasingly important 

    for our own well being 

      and the well being of others. 

It becomes a question of stewardship vs. greed. 

If we choose to uphold stewardship, 

  we will emphasize abundance and generosity. 

If we choose to uphold greed, 

  we will emphasize scarcity and selfishness. 

As we move forward into this New Year of 2021, 

  I'm holding out hope 

    for a sense of good stewardship, 

      an emphasis on the abundance of what we have, 

        and the generosity that will help all of us 

          find our share in all good things. 

Happy New Year, 2021! 

Amen. 

So Mote it Be. 

So Let it Be. 

Blessed Be!