Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
History and Religion
Welcome to 2025!

Welcome to 2025!

Last updated on: January 1, 2025 at 12:09 pm by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

Welcome to 2025! 2025-01-01T12:09:01-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

First of all, I want to wish everybody who reads this a happy new year, a healthy and prosperous and satisfying 2025. I’m not a big fan of the New Year’s Eve and New Years Day holiday, but I’m pretty positive about such ideas as finding personal satisfaction, prosperity, good health, and happiness, and I would like them to be as widely shared as possible.

A Celtic cross at dawn (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Here’s an interesting account of a rather unique near-death experience that you might find interesting. It comes from a source that I, at least, would not have expected: ESPN, the basic-cable sports network. It’s not quite eight minutes long: “How tragedy and hope intertwined with the UF-UGA rivalry”

As the Florida-Georgia rivalry takes center stage today, two SEC families, one of die-hard Georgia fans and the other lifelong Florida supporters, find their journeys intertwined through the gift of life and an incredible spiritual encounter.

A person of indeterminable gender, whose image is shared here for purely illustrative purposes. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

And, on a completely different note, here’s a worthwhile little piece from the British magazine The Spectator. I was able to gain access to it at no charge, by simply signing up: “How some atheists fell for the new religion of gender identity” And, while I’m on the topic, here’a another relevant piece that I recently noticed: “Basta! Italy’s National Bioethics Committee Urges Blocking Puberty Blockers”

An image of Janus from the Vatican Museums (Wikimedia Commons public domain image.)

I published this column in the Deseret News back on 1 January 2015, precisely ten years ago today:

January, the first month of the calendar year, most likely takes its name from the ancient Roman deity Janus, who was believed to be the gatekeeper of heaven. More generally, he was the god of doors, gateways (including city gates) and boundaries, and thus of beginnings and transitions, as well as a patron deity of traveling, trading and shipping.

Jan. 1 was New Year’s Day for the ancient Romans, who regarded beginnings as indicators or omens for whatever would follow. Accordingly, on the first day of January they would exchange good wishes as well as honey, dates, figs and coins.

Invoked at the beginning of each new year with burnt offerings of special cakes, Janus was peculiarly Roman; unlike most Roman deities, he had no Greek equivalent. He was typically represented with two faces, looking both to the past and toward the future.

Some ancient sources, however, say that Juno, the wife of the chief Roman god, Jupiter, was the goddess of the month, and even that January is named after her rather than Janus. For my purposes here, though, precisely how the month received its name is unimportant: Both Janus and Juno were connected with beginnings and transitions. Juno was the goddess of hearth and home, and was closely associated with conception and delivery. Juno and Janus presided together each month over the birth of the new moon.

Modern members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worship neither Janus nor Juno, but they should never forget that the God they do worship is, very emphatically, the Lord of new beginnings.

Repentance permits us, Janus-like, to look toward and reflect upon the past while turning with renewed purpose toward the future. The gift of the Atonement so clearly explained in the New Testament and, perhaps even more clearly, in the Book of Mormon, is already implicit in the Old Testament: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:7).

The hope of resurrection and the prospect of life even beyond the grave illustrate our limitless potential and the unending opportunity that has been given to us, however difficult our current circumstances may seem and however dejected we may sometimes feel. They declare that no defeat here in this world need be permanent, that no loss need be forever.

In baptism and in the weekly renewal of covenants associated with the sacrament, we have powerful symbols of new beginnings. We are buried in the water, as Jesus Christ was buried in the tomb. But, because of him and like him, we emerge born again to new life. The heavy rock that sealed him, seemingly forever, in his grave and that appeared to have permanently ended his mission in humiliating defeat was unable to prevent him from rising again in triumph.

John the Revelator saw him while exiled upon the small island of Patmos. “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

The division between calendar years is only traditional and a human convention, much like the boundaries between states. But the practice of reflecting upon our past and of resolving to act better in the future is a good one at any time — on the first of January no less than at baptism and every week during worship services — and we should do it often.

It’s a pity that, all too frequently, many people begin the New Year with overindulgence and in a chemically induced haze. If the Romans were right, that the beginning of a year is an indicator or omen for what will follow, such practices are ill-considered, and perhaps even (literally) ominous.

This season is a time for fun, of course, and for family and friends. But it should also be an occasion for serious reflection, for taking stock and for determining to move forward during the coming year.

The marvelous English writer G. K. Chesterton made an excellent point when he suggested that, “The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.”

Through repentance, resolution, renewed covenants and the help of the Spirit, a “new soul” is actually possible for each and every one of us. Hallelujah!

History and Religion

Travel and Religion

Previous Post

December 31, 2024

"Ring Out, Wild Bells!"

Next Post

January 2, 2025 Gratitude, and "Prayer with Uplifted Hands"

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I have cpnsidered in my mond if the 4 volume Saints could be made into ..."

John Pack Lambert

From Serbia’s “White City,” Belgrade

"DP: “But Mr. Sutherland worries about the fact that our time, when we can communicate ..."

Theodore Brandley

Learning more about a region of ..."

"Another class of memories are of individuals who previously lived. Some of these remembered individuals ..."

PlasmaMiasma

Accounts of Premortality?

"Sutherland's lecture sounds interesting. He seems to restate the Washington consensus that trade brings peace ..."

B. Wilson

Learning more about a region of ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the Greek word 'Kurios' mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Redeemer Lord King Messiah