Why January’s "new year" is about doors, not seasons

Janus, January, and remembering He who truly sees.

The middle of winter is a strange time to mark a new beginning. Here in the northern hemisphere, the land is still quiet, nights are still long, and fields are still bare. Nothing is sprouting or visibly new. And yet, thanks to an enduring Roman administrative decision (read more here) we delude ourselves into thinking a fresh chapter is starting.

The month we usher in today takes its name from Janus, the Roman god of thresholds, gates, and passages. The Latin root of his name, ianua, means door. That essentially makes Janus a doorman, presiding over entrances and exits, beginnings and endings, contracts and transitions.

Significantly, he is depicted as having two faces — one looking backward, one forward — making him able to see inside and outside, ahead and behind, simultaneously.

That detail makes Janus the oddly perfect patron saint for the moment we live in, which is obsessed with thresholds, borders, permissions, passwords, and access. On a daily basis, we face digital doors that never fully open or close. In our world, being “seen” is a constant, with invisible systems looking both forward and backward compiling histories about us while predicting (and even shaping) our future behavior.

The mythic ability to have two faces is now baked into modern infrastructure. Perhaps that’s why ringing in a “new” year right now feels less like a birth and more like a checkpoint.

We are told to reflect — look back — and set intentions — look forward. But we do this under the gaze of systems that never EVER stop looking. In reality, January 1st is a managed passage through a contrived door.

You don’t have to believe this assessment. However, contrast it with the start of new years in other cultures and traditions — tied to Spring and its visible signs: soil warming, animals birthing, and seeds bursting with life. Those beginnings make sense because life itself is moving.

If we look to scripture to understand this new beginning, the month of Aviv (אָבִיב) is given in Torah (the ‘old’ testament) as the start of the year. Aviv is about young grain, green ears, barley in the early ripening stage. In addition to the start of the year, it’s also an agricultural state and not just a calendar name.

So, forgive us if we don’t celebrate today as the start of a new year. At most, it’s an administrative mark of a new month. Despite this, it serves as a useful moment to take stock of our place in the universe and to recognize the proliferation of unseen “gods” man has built that now watch, record, and judge our actions.

More importantly, it’s a moment to remember the real God — the one who knows the contents of our heart. The Heavenly Father who sees our true actions, thoughts, and words… not as data points for predictive behavior but as living beings with free will. He whose surveillance transcends control and digital divination, and provides genuine forgiveness and love for those who commit to Him.

Happy January.

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