Starting Anew...

While living in South America I experienced some exciting New Year’s traditions that are part of the culture there.  It was common for people to dress in costumes, block the roads, and require payment for cars to get through. Once I understood this tradition, I pretty much decided that if I had somewhere to go on New Year’s Eve, I’d walk!  Perhaps the most interesting, though, was what was known as burning “el año viejo” – the old year.  All over town one could purchase paper mâché characters, representing the “old man,” then burn these characters in effigy. We’d light the characters on fire, and then jump over (and sometimes through) the fire to the other side. It was a symbol of leaving the past behind and starting fresh.  

 

The concept of starting anew is a meaningful concept – like the Apostle Paul mentions in I Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.”  That being said, we also look to God who is consistent, reliable, and doesn’t change.  We’re encouraged by knowing that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). This is a beautiful balance – knowing that we can leave the mistakes of the past behind while leaning on the knowledge that the same savior who has given us grace and blessings of the past will continue that into the future.  

 

As we walk alongside our students this new semester, our faculty will help each one jump into a new year, guiding each towards a healthy balance of leaving the old behind and stepping out into the new, while seeking to reflect God’s faithfulness, offering support and encouragement that comes from building on past successes.  We pray that our students will find this healthy balance and have a wonderfully successful semester!

May this be a joyous new year for all!

Jim  

 

Dr. Jim Cianca

Head of School