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On New Year’s Eve at the stroke of midnight, many of us sing the classic “Auld Lang Syne”. Written in 1788 by Robert Burns, the poem essentially calls us to cherish our oldest, dearest friends. What I love is not just the lyrics such as --
“And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for the sake of auld lang syne”
-- but also the tradition that whilst singing Auld Lang Syne everyone joins hands with their neighbours to form a great circle. Everyone crosses their arms across their chest, so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbour on the left and vice versa. When the tune ends, everyone rushes to the middle, while still holding hands high in the air.
For a few midnight moments, everyone is interconnected singing in unison: from the very young to the very old, from one’s lifelong relations to the newest of friends and neighbours, everyone forms a circle of life that for me represents our interdependence and inter-woveness. Desmond Tutu called this interrelatedness “Ubuntu” – or in translation “I am who I am because of who we all are”.
This New Year’s we should remember that it is not just that all humans are related to each other that matters, but that we are also integrated and dependent on the earth and all of creation as well. Psalm 148 (the favourite of St Francis of Assisi) puts it beautifully:
Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
The coming of a New Year always brings with it hope of new beginnings. At St Mary’s we have recently formed the Green Dream Team. A group of committed, environmentally aware Christians are weaving our personal actions and environmental footprints together. The vision for the group is to reflect upon our lifestyles, share sustainability ideas and to learn how we can care for our community, for creation and for the world. All are welcome to join the Green Dream Team, and what better way to start the New Year?
The Revd Charlotte Bannister-Parker Associate Priest
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