Another New Year

How many times a year do we celebrate a new year? The first and obvious answer is once, on January 1^st, New Years Day. But is that the only time?

Many businesses have a fiscal year that does not follow the calendar year. For my church, our fiscal year officially starts when we pass our annual budget at the end of January. We always have to back track and reimburse the employees for the raises they should have received at the beginning of January but that we couldn’t give them until the congregation approved them at the annual meeting.

Another example of a new year is the start of the school year. Schools are now in session across the country and, thus, the new school year has begun. I remember how much I liked the beginning of school. Granted, it was hard to start getting up in the morning and starting the routine of a school day when I had enjoyed a summer of no routines. But the start of the school year was always full of excitement for what I would learn during the next year, the joy of using brand new school supplies, and seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

For many religions, there is a specific day when the new year begins. For the Lutheran church, the beginning of the season of Advent starts the new church year. This occurs four weeks before Christmas. It is the season that prepares us for the coming of Christ and is a time of contemplation.

There are many more examples I could name of new years. There is the Chinese New Year (occurring sometime between January 21 and February 21), the Iranian New Year (March 20^th or 21^st), the Balinese New Year (occurring on March 26 in 2009), Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, etc. The list goes on and on.

Today was the start of a new year at my church. We had our Rally Day for the start of the Sunday School year. We celebrate Rally Day by registering the kids for Sunday School, serving a pancake breakfast and then sending kids downstairs to their classrooms to meet with their teachers. Of course, by that time, the kids are full of pancake syrup and zooming on sugar highs. But that is all part of the celebration. After all, most new year celebrations involve enjoying libations and getting a little tipsy in some way or another.

Even though I don’t teach Sunday School so, other than helping with the pancake breakfast, I am not involved with it. But it is exciting to think about the kids starting a new year of learning about God, Jesus, the Bible and how to behave as a child of God. It is also the start of Adult Forum, a time of Bible study we have between our two Sunday morning services. I don’t always attend Adult Forum but I am anticipating attending many of them this year and learning something new.

So Happy Rally Day! Happy New Year! Hope the next year is full of joy and happiness for everyone!