Have you any plans to celebrate? Or, will this evening find you quietly reflecting, in the peace of your own home? At this writing, DH and I plan to attend our church’s Burning Bowl service. “What’s that”, you ask?In brief, two candles are lit – one that stands for the old year, another signifying the New Year. Everyone is given a piece of paper on which we write whatever it is that we want to release. (I was once cautioned, ”No names, please – God’s not a ‘hit man’.”)
After a time of prayer, each row is invited to come up. We stand for a moment, touch our paper to the light and inwardly just feel, “I release you and let you go.” The paper is then placed it in the Burning Bowl. This is a universal sort of thing – placing in the fire and releasing – as a way of convincing our consciousness that we have let it go!
While this ritual may sound “New Age” or metaphysical, it actually has origins in ancient faiths and traditions. In her book, Transformative Rituals: Celebrations for Personal Growth, Gay Williamson-Grigas writes, “Fire is frequently used at the beginning of a new year for cleansing and transforming – like the mythical Phoenix, rising from the ashes.”
“When we make time to acknowledge our emotional life through ritual and ceremony, we free ourselves up to love more, to forgive more, to be full of more of God’s grace, which is really the healing balm.”
From our family to yours …. Happy New Year! (Stay safe out there!)
