Good Riddance Day began in New York City 14 years ago, but I wasn’t aware of the practice until this year. I suppose an Annus Horribilis prompted its recent rise in popularity. Though it sounds like something you might treat with Preparation H, Wikipedia defines Annus Horribilis as a Latin phrase meaning "horrible year." I think we can all agree that 2020 qualifies. Don’t I wish there was an ointment to relieve some of the ills of this past year. Sadly, there’s no easy fix - only treatment to ease our discomfort.
During the annual Good Riddance Day event on December 28 in Times Square, people toss, shred, and smash unpleasant, embarrassing, and downright unwanted memories for the past year, wiping the slate clean for a better new year.* Oh, if it were only that simple! While an excellent symbolic exercise, when January 1st dawned, nothing much had changed except the number on the calendar and possibly the scale depending on how you celebrated.
As 2021 was ushered in, the world awoke to more COVID cases, more death, more political and economic strife. Same old, same old. However, while the remedies for those issues will be slow, changing how we perceive them doesn’t need to be – if we choose to focus our hope on the One who will eventually make all things right. Jesus Christ is only one way I know of to wipe our slates clean. He eagerly takes what we offer Him, shredding and repurposing our past to make way for a new and improved future. When you choose to offer him your worst, that moment is the beginning of your very best.
Make no mistake, the shredding process isn’t painless or easy. It’s difficult surrendering pain, old grievances, hurts, habits and unhealthy patterns of thinking and behavior. It’s hard work we can’t do alone – nor do we have to. Christ promises to walk with us through our pain into His peace. That said, don’t be in too much of a rush to discard painful experiences before extracting the lessons we are meant to learn from them or they WILL come back to haunt you.
Everyone is eager to welcome a new year, myself included. However, it would behoove us to take some time to reflect on what we’ve learned over the past tumultuous year before we say “good riddance” to 2021. Our lives have been changed forever. COVID has stripped away the fragile façade to reveal the best and worst of humanity. There’s no going back, only forward – hopefully, with a new appreciation for the simple things in life like faith, family, friends and elastic waistbands!
Finally, the birth of Christ we just celebrated was the beginning of God’s slate cleaning project. When you choose to view your past through the lens of God’s healing love and mercy, anyone can start a new year with a clean slate bright with promise and possibility.
Choose wisely.
