SpiritMatters Monthly January 2009

Look both ways before crossing...

The ancient Romans used to carve a two headed figure of a god named Janus over their doors. Janus was not just the god of doors though; he was also the god of what they represented: beginnings and endings. You pass through a door to begin a journey; you pass through a door when your journey comes to an end. Doorways are the point of transition between the known and the unknown, between the past and the future. When the Romans were naming the months of their calendar, they decided to name the first month in honor of the god Janus, hence our January. The Romans recognized that January is a time of transition that frequently calls upon us to look in both directions at the same time, like the god Janus. We cannot just dwell on the past, nor can we just dispense with it and think only of the future. Wisdom is being able to see the past and the future simultaneously, without clinging too much to one or the other. For thousands of years doorways have represented the division between past and future or safety and chance in a very physical way. Different religious traditions have found ways of marking the significance of the doors in our lives, both the real ones and the figurative ones. The ancient Jews were instructed that in the first month (according to the Jewish calendar), they were to mark their doorposts with the blood of a lamb so that the Lord would pass over their homes and spare them when he went to punish Egypt. The Jews were instructed to eat the lamb with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hands: in other words, they were told to be prepared to move on and venture forth as soon as the Lord said so. Ritual is not just about remembering the past; it is about remembering the past so that we may be prepared to move forward. The modern Passover ritual involves the retelling of how God led the Israelites out of those blood-marked doors and on a new journey that would eventually take them to the Promised Land. The Christian ritual of the Holy Eucharist is a similar doorway where we can look back on where we have been while we prepare for where we are going. Doors are special places: sometimes they bring people into our lives, sometimes they take people out. Sometimes doors lead to the outside world of chance and possibility, sometimes they lead to the inside world of safety and familiarity. We are now standing in the doorway month of January, looking back on the old 2008, looking forward to the new 2009. May we realize that our God can be like that God Janus, standing over us in this in-between space, and blessing both the
remembering and the hoping.


Blessings,

Fr. Kevin