A Friday Night at Home in the New Year

I’ve got things I want to write about, but at the same time, they’re not things that I want to start the new year off with. Yes, it’s a calendar page; much like birthdays, New Year’s Days don’t magically change anything, the sun and moon still follow their paths, oblivious to the human invention. At the same time, it’s a place when most of the people in the world do something together, even if it is the proverbial turning of the calendar page, rather than partying in Times Square. 

When I was a kid, I kept thinking to how old I would be in 2000, and how things might be when I was twenty. At the time, even high school was barely fathomable. And yet, here I am, now having lived more of my life after 2000 rather than before it. 

I caught this article from Not the Bee yesterday about how the calendars for 1996 and 2024 line up (though not Easter) and while I can get into why this happens – there are only 14 different calendars, total, and I spent far too many hours as a kid reading the World Almanac – it’s still a fun little piece of nostalgia. 1996 was one of the more memorable years of my life, and it’s crazy to think that it’s been 28(!) years since these things took place. Yet looking at those calendars – Jonathan Taylor Thomas, etc – it’s easy to be transported back to that time. Unfortunately, I don’t *think* I have any 1996 calendars to share, but I’m pretty sure I have a couple from 1997 (and I think I even marked them on the back as to when I could use them again though I missed chances in 2003 and 2014.) 

The world is crazy, and I think there’s a lot more cynicism in the air this New Year than in 1996. I feel like there’s an expectation this year that everything falls apart. In the aftermath of 2020, I can’t really blame anyone for doing so. 

Still, each of us has some power to influence our little corners of the world for the better, and in 2024, this is going to be more important than ever, as we feel the structure of things shake beneath our feet. It’s not the time for despair, though. It’s a time to renew our resolve to hold on to God, and hold on to each other in order to make it through whatever this year holds in store. And don’t forget – a lot of that will be positive as well.

Happy New Year!

---