By: Rev. Dan Haugh
Picture yourself walking along a dimly lit side street in a small village in southern Italy. The moonlight shines radiantly upon the tall steeple in the town square and white lights line the ancient trees. It is December 31st. The old year will pass away within minutes and what lays ahead is still unknown. You look heavenward seeking guidance and direction and then notice something hurdling down from above towards you….an oven!
You may think this just to be a figment of imagine, but alas it is raining down appliances…as is the custom in southern Italy on New Year’s Eve. A large part of the celebration is letting go of the old year. So, Italians will throw out old items as a symbolic gesture of letting go of the past for a more hopeful time ahead. They will throw away old clothes, furniture, pots, and pans – out the window! These days, this tradition is no longer as common in Italy, but beware for an odd pan flying through the air if you ever travel there for the holiday!
For many of us, we would have liked to throw away the past year. Wouldn’t it be nice to hurl 2020 onto the pavement! As we move into 2021, there is a sense of hope however. A vaccine has been successfully developed and is already been distributed widely. And so we find ourselves in a new calendar year, with increased hope but yet still facing the same struggles, challenges and questions as last year. I often hear people wishing to get back to normal, or what is now referred to as the “before times”.
But I wonder what was normal, and was it really life giving?
Though we did not have to wear face masks or social distance ourselves, the “before times” demanded a frantic, hurried and over-schedule calendar that more often than not, left us feeling anxious, stressed and exhausted. Last year the news was dominated with race tensions, demands for justice and equity and shocking observations about the national level of racism, bigotry, hostility and violence. The powers of hate and divisiveness seem to have ruled the day and we have all collectively suffered.
As I reflect on the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this month, I am reminded of these words: “There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Mahatma Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says, ‘This isn’t the way.’
The Christian Church recently celebrated the baptism of Christ. This story begins the public ministry of Jesus and as he us submerged in the waters of the Jordan River by John the Baptist, he emerges and “suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17).
Baptism, for Christians is not only a sign of God’s everlasting covenant..a seal of approval, affirmation and eternal faithfulness, it also symbolizes the putting to death of the old ways and rising towards the hope of new life.
Regardless of our religious traditions, we can have a “baptism” moment of acknowledging the past that continues to haunt and harm us, and “baptism” movement away from the old as we allow the healing waters to come over us. The old ways of life…old mindsets, thoughts, patterns, behaviors, attitudes and actions that are not life giving to self or to others…these can and need to be done away with and thrown out from the balconies of our hearts and minds.
Jesus represented a new way of being in the world. He modeled for us that new life and a new way forward is possible….one of peace, forgiveness and love. That is why the movement of Christ’s followers in the early first century was simply called “the Way” before it was named Christianity. Dr. King also said, “By opening our lives to God, we become new creatures. . . Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.”
May we all believe that a new way forward is possible for ourselves, our community and our nation. May we, like Christ, hear the voice of God calling us beloved, and empowered by the Spirit of God to speak out against the old ways and to to advocate for a more loving and forgiving world in the year ahead.
