Turning Over a New Leaf

 

from Wikimedia
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Have you ever wondered where the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions came from?

 

Curious, I went searching for some answers to this question, and was surprised by what I found. Making New Year’s resolutions didn’t begin as secular practice, but started as a religious event.

 

Making New Year’s resolutions is believed to have started with the ancient Babylonians, who made promises to their gods to return borrowed objects, especially farm equipment, and pay any debts they owed. By doing this they hoped to receive favor from the gods in the coming year. The penalty for breaking the resolutions was stiffer than it is for us today, because the Babylonians believed to dishonor their pledge meant the gods would not look upon them with favor.

 

The practice of making promises to the gods carried over into ancient Rome, where worshippers of the god Janus would offer resolutions of good behavior to the two-faced deity of beginnings and ends, who looked forward into the New Year and backward into the old one.

 

During Judaism’s New Year celebration, Rosh Hashanah, and through the High Holidays and culminating in Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), worshippers reflected upon their wrongdoings over the year and sought and offered forgiveness. 

 

In Medieval times New Year’s resolutions for the knights of chivalry took on a less religious, but still noble, meaning. At the end of the year, knights took the “peacock vow” to reaffirm their commitment to chivalry

 

The New Year resolutions of Christians focused on God, too. In fact, in 1740 the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, began watch night services, which were meant for worshippers to sing, pray, reflect on the year, and renew their covenant with God while they watched for the New Year to arrive. This sort of service was common up until the late sixties. Celebrating with fellow Christians in church was how I spent most of my New Years’ Eves as a youth.

 

Through the ages the religious aspect of New Year’s resolutions has largely fallen by the wayside. Today instead of making promises to deities and thereby seeking their favor, our New Year resolutions have turned inward. According to statistics found in an article in the Oklahoma StatUniversity Newsline, by end of 19th century most resolutions focused on good works. By the end of the 20^th century more focused on good looks and improving image, but by the beginning of the 21^st century resolutions had become even more superficial.

 

The perceived penalty—disfavor of the gods—has also fallen by the wayside, something most of us are grateful for, since over 80 percent of us who make resolutions fail to keep them. This year, when you are making your resolutions, perhaps you should consider falling back on the ancient tradition that held you responsible to God when it came to keeping your resolutions. I’ll bet if we thought about our New Year’s promises that way we might be more likely to take care in what we pledge and work harder to achieve the goal.

 

No matter what you resolve to do in the coming year, spiritual or material, I wish you success in the task and happiness in the months to come.