Happy New Year!

The New Year Celebration is the oldest holiday we know of. It is also the most secular. BTW, that in no way means “anti-God”. If you believe in the Jewish or Christian God (I don’t know enough about other religions to speak intelligently about them so I’ll refrain from speaking about other faiths. This should be taken as a sign of respect for the belief of others and not as a slight because I didn’t mention a particular belief. I’ll eventually write a post about “Why I refuse to address ‘other’ religions.” Till then, just accept that I believe in tolerance.) Jesus said “Love thy neighbor.” In many instances he demonstrated that this extended to people who were not Christian or Jewish. Therefore anyone who is a Christian should be tolerant of other beliefs. Don’t believe me, believe Jesus. If you don’t, well, you’re not really a Christian are you? The fact remains; we have holidays that are not religious. New Years is one of them. I don’t really know the significance of New Year’s celebrations. I do know that for me it represents a chance to start again. 2005, like 2004, was painful enough for me that I really don’t want to remember them. There were good times in those years and I’m thankful for them. They kept me going. So if you were part of them, I thank you. Over all the past two years have sucked. I have lost the last of my parents and God-parents. I have lost the majority of people I turn to in times of pain, stress and sorrow. I feel more alone than I have ever felt in my life. I hope 2006 will be less sorrowful. I can’t imagine how it could not be so, but I didn’t imagine 2005 would have crushed me the way it did. So like the ancient peoples before me I hope the New Year will be good to me, or at least better than the old. Happy New Year!