It’s time for our annual New Year celebration.  But what most people don’t know is how it all began.

The ancient Babylonians celebrated the start of the new year at the Vernal Equinox, which will fall on Sunday, March 20th.  And the Romans also used the Vernal Equinox as a starting point, and chose March 1st for their new year.  The ancient Egyptians, however, used the annual flooding of the Nile which usually starts in June as the beginning of their new agricultural year.

The ancient Chinese celebrated their new year in February, which they still do to this day.  And the Israelites celebrated their new year in September, and that was September 14-15, 2015.

So how did we get to January 1?  Well, the Romans liked Janus  who is the god of beginnings and transitions, and thereby of gates, doors, doorways, passages and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past.   So in 46 BC they changed March 1st to January 1st as their New Year.

But when the Roman Empire became Christian, by 567 AD the Church decided that this was a pagan holiday and therefore changed it to December 25th, to coincide with Jesus birth.  So for some time, Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as the beginning of their new year.

But in 1582 AD, the Roman Catholic church changed their minds and redesignated January 1st as the beginning of the New Year.  The Protestants continued to view it as a pagan holiday for some time, but gradually joined the crowd.  The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752 AD.  Until then, the British Empire —and their American colonies— still celebrated the new year in March.

So here in America, celebrating New Year’s Day on January 1st is only 263 years old.  But after looking at all the days on which this day was originally celebrated, which one would you choose?

In any case, to all my blessed family and friends, may the coming days, weeks, and months bring you a new perspective on what life means to you and especially what each new day God gives to you means to Him.