Starting the Year on the Right Foot

          Happy Hogmanay!

          Don't ask where the word comes from (origins a bit obscure), but Hogmanay is the Scots' Happy New Year celebration. At a time when the strict Kirk of Scotland was coming down on Christmas celebrations as "popish and superstitious," Hogmanay (a non-religious occasion) grew in importance.

          A central feature is the tradition of "first footing." To start the year with good luck, it is necessary to have a tall, dark man be the first to set foot through the front door. This should occur as soon as possible after the tolling of midnight on New Year's Eve. With him, he carries some coal or peat (fuel for the fire), a loaf of bread, and a bottle of whisky. The fuel he puts on the fire; the loaf he puts on the table; and from the bottle, he pours a glass for the head of the house. Nothing else must be said before he utters, "Happy New Year." Presumably, if one man is selected as first footer for a whole community, and shares a glass with the head of a number of households, his footing might eventually become precarious…

          It's easy to see the symbolism of plenty, though, in the items that he brings. Fuel for warmth; bread and drink for sustenance; symbols of hope for a prosperous year.

          No such ceremony can ensure a plentiful, trouble-free year, of course. But a good way to begin our year is to recognize how blessed we truly are. We will be warm this winter. We will not lack for food. What abundance in a world in which for most people, in most times and places, there has been no such certainty.

          As for the first to come through our doors…how about inviting Christ to enter our homes and hearts in a fresh way, and asking for his guidance in all things in the new year, with its unforeseeable realities?

          Have a Happy New Year, and…haggis, anyone?

          Rod