Holy Smokes

I have been curious about celebrating New Year’s.  It’s not like we are commemorating anything on the day.  It was not the result of an act of congress.  They would not be able to agree on it anyway.  But there is a human urge to sweep out the old and ring in the new.  More than a holiday surrounded by parades and bowl games, New Year’s Day essentially is a rite of passage.

Maybe it’s from undergraduate days of theoretical communication or theological training after that but I am a firm believer in the need for ritual.  That may be why I gravitated toward a liturgical church and probably thought by some as “high church.”  We need rituals in our life.  If we don’t have established rituals we invent rituals.  Think of children who start their “secret club” and create a password and secret handshake.

We have family rituals for birthdays.  We have family rituals for weddings.  We have family rituals how presents are to be opened at Christmas.  Those are special and joyful rituals that we pass from generation to generation. There are the designated family members who are the keepers of the tradition.  Families without rituals and traditions probably have the sociopathic family member who creates his or her own macabre rituals.

Institutions pride themselves with their rituals:  high school homecoming; junior prom; college fraternity initiation; volunteer fire departments’ water fights; 4-H county fair, etc.  Social and fraternal organizations in the community have a multitude of rituals.  They may wear special costumes and headgear to signify their ritual.

One of my crazy notions is to open franchises across the nation called “Passages.”  As a pastor I figure if you can’t win them, join them.  It would be a simple pavilion where secular people could gather to celebrate various passages, light candles, and play some special song on the sound system.  People could celebrate the end of orthodontia appointments, getting a driver’s license, receiving a lottery check, finalization of a divorce, retirement of a mortgage, honoring the memory Grandpa.  (If you have the start-up money, let’s talk.)

Meanwhile, I will celebrate the milestones of the faith as we walk the journey of the baptized.  We may light the baptismal candle on the anniversary of our children’s baptisms.  We honor their entrance in Sunday school. We make the sign of the cross in remembrance of our baptism.  Our children join us at Holy Communion for their first time.  They affirm their baptism in Confirmation.  Two baptized people come together in Holy Matrimony to walk their journey together. Being installed as a council member is even a declaration of our baptism.  Then, one day, a white pall is spread across our casket like our baptismal garment.  It states that our baptismal journey has come full circle.

Here’s the point:  Embrace the rituals, both secular and sacred.  Maybe it means wearing a goofy hat and sharing giggles.  Maybe it is somber and serious.  Regardless, there are those events and passages that mark the rhythm and drumbeat of life.

Hey there, you with the noisemaker in your mouth and confetti on your shoulder—Happy New Year!