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Old Year's Night

Almost universally, today, December 31st, is referred to by the name New Year's Eve.  However, in the home in which I was raised, the night of December 31st was known as Old Year's Night.  For some reason it has hit my fancy this year to be more attracted to this latter designation.  The term New Year's Eve definitely has a forward looking connotation.  It suggests we are standing on the brink of something we have been anticipating.  The joy lies not in this moment, but in the potential of what tomorrow brings.  It is similar to Christmas Eve.  Everything about its celebration points to the next day - the big event it foreshadows.

It seems to me that the name Old Year's Night pictures something very different by contrast.  Rather than a sense of standing at the brink of a moment looking forward into the future, it pictures a long, lingering look back over the year that has been.  It is a moment to savour the sweetness of a final taste of that which we have enjoyed in the past twelve months.  Rather than calling for resolutions to be better people in the future, Old Year's Night calls for utterances of thankfulness for mercies already received. 

As we come to this Old Year's Night, let's take some time to look back and count our blessings from 2013.  Then let's bow in thanksgiving before the Lord who has blessed us so abundantly.

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