To Celebrate . . .Or Not

 

New Year's Eve has come and gone again.  And it's kind of the same thing every year you know.  The indelible image of New Year's is that big ball dropping in New York, high above the throngs of people who have been standing there since the early morning for just that moment.  They look like they are having fun.  Most of the rest of us are in our homes or that of a friend, by midnight watching these people have fun on our televisions.  It's sort of fun.  Right?  Actually, it is, if you can make yourself stay up that late.  (Man, I'm starting to sound old.)  But it does become kind of a sport to see if you can stay up to watch it.  But when you do, you are glad you did, especially when your infant sleeps in a little later the next morning (Thanks Lily!)

 

So, this new year's got me thinking about celebrating stuff like that--actually meaningless things.  I mean Christmas and Easter have substance to them.  There's something to celebrate, but New Year's is kind of a made-up party.  It got me thinking that there are two kinds of people.  People who look for reasons not to celebrate and those that look for any excuse to celebrate.

 

The first kind of person looks at Christmas and says, "What's all the fuss?"  They look at New Year's and say, "It's just a date on the calendar."  They look at birthdays and say, "No big deal.  Just one more day older."  And on and on.  American Protestantism lends itself to this worldview.  Life is austere.  Nothing really to get too excited about.  Besides I've got to work tomorrow.

 

The other kind of person, quite differently, looks for any excuse to celebrate.  Christmas lights are a pain?  Well, you only hang them once a year, so here's another strand.  New Year's--let's go out to dinner.  Why?  "Why not?"  It's your birthday?  Great.  Eat more cake!  You can run it off later.

 

I don't want to make too much of it, but people do generally seem to fall in these categories.  Seems kind of like Jesus was the second kind of person.  Maybe I'm stretching here, but water into wine is kind of a big, unnecessary miracle.  Really?  This is your coming out party?  It couldn't be giving sight to the blind? deaf to the hearing? ability to walk to a lame person?  Nope.  Water to wine.  At a party.  

 

Hmm. Happy New Year!