Greeting the New Year is usually with a spirit of optimism.
Regardless the tragedy, upset or painful experiences of the past 12 months, turning the calendar page to the New Year offers a fresh approach and outlook on life.
This renewal opportunity is not by accident. The New Year has been a celebration dating back thousands of years.
The early Romans celebrated New Year’s according to their original calendar which only had 10 months and 304 days. This created a problem over time as the calendar fell out of sync with the seasons.
Julius Caesar solved this problem in 46 BC when he convened the best astronomers and mathematicians in the Empire to create the Julian calendar. This worked rather well and was eventually replaced by the Gregorian calendar in 1582 which is used by most of the world today.
Caesar is also credited with instituting Janus 1, (January 1) named after himself, which became a day of celebration, gift giving and some rather raunchy parties.
New Year celebrations have evolved over the centuries from pagan parties to eventually becoming spiritual renewal time as the Catholic Church instituted reforms. The Church eliminated the pagan culture in favor of more pious activities centering around the birth of Christ.
Over the centuries, the content of Christmas and New Year’s has evolved while retaining elements of their pagan beginnings centuries before Christ.
The New Year continues to be celebrated in many ways while keeping the renewal aspect as a core value. Turning over a new leaf, forgetting the past, making resolutions, having aspirations for good fortune in the New Year continue as a foundation for celebration.
As Santa Clara enters the New Year we can celebrate that we made it through another year. As we look ahead to 2018, it would be with good wishes that our community comes a little more together.
It would be a wonderful thing if our City Council could work with the SF 49ers as partners instead of villains.
It appears the 49ers have begun to find the formula for good fortune on the field.
A New Year’s peace treaty would be an olive branch of appreciation by the entire community
Maybe they send Jimmy G over to meet with the Mayor and work out the issues over coffee.
In this coming New Year there are a few things that are certain:
The Stadium is not packing its bags and leaving.
The 49ers are here for 27 more years.
There will be an election in November 2018.
The community will want a leader who can inspire partnerships of participation.
That would be a cause for celebration by everyone.
So…we wish you…a very Happy New Year.
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