What is now celebrated as New Year’s Eve was once a night of mourning
for the dying year. Today, in a rush to deny any sign of life’s
passing—and thus mortality itself—Americans head straight for the party
instead. Yet HIV has taught us that renewed possibility and purpose are
often found only by confronting death. When we don’t stop—for even a
few moments—to solemnly reflect on life’s endings, life itself can lose
meaning.
The beaches of Rio de Janeiro fill each New Year’s Eve
with worshipful revelers who bring lighted candles, flowers
and perfume and who danceand bathe in the surf to seek favor from the
African sea goddess, Iemanja—who legend says, “chooses the men she is
to take on the bottomless journey to the depths of the sea.”
Perhaps
the key to a truly joyous 2006, one filled with special meaning and
second chances, lies not just in looking ahead, but in looking back to
traditions as timeless as this. They have carried generations through
the long night and into the dawn of a new year.
