Looking Forward and Looking Back

By The Rev. Daniel Gregoire, Minister

Unitarian Universalist Society of Grafton and Upton

These early days of 2024 are a great time for looking forwards. It is also a great time for looking back on our experiences. January is a perfect time for looking at the spiritual practices that add depth and meaning to our lives. In fact, according to the venerable Harris’ Farmer’s Almanac, January is named after the ancient Roman God, Janus, the keeper of the gates, who is often pictured with two heads, one looking forward and the other looking back.

This idea of looking forward and looking back exists as a kind of dynamic tension that animates this month. It is important to remember that Janus was also the embodiment of beginnings, transitions and passing through gateways. While very few of us practice ancient Roman religions today, we all benefit from knowing something about the intention behind the things we take for granted, like the historic origins of names of the months or even days of the week. Since all of these names have been retained in our modern calendars, it makes sense that we might also retain some of the mythic associations that come with them. This is especially true when it comes to the month of January which marks a new start for all of us.

As we pass through the gates of the new year, I hope we might also find a way to carry the associated “energy” of this month with us for all of 2024. We can do this by starting out with the intention to look forward and look back simultaneously. But, one might ask, isn’t this like taking two diverging roads at the same time? How might we look forward and look back and still be one person? I feel like Robert Frost might have wondered about this sort of thing once, too. Well, my response, my pastoral response is to make a daily practice of prayer in the new year.

In your prayers, addressed to whomever you might believe is listening be it: God, Brahma, Goddess, Spirit of Life, the ancestors, a listening cosmos or Janus himself, express your sense of gratitude for all that came before you; the triumphs and the tribulations. Gratitude is by far the best way to go about looking backwards.

Then continue your prayer with your intention for going forward. This intention might be boldness itself. In your prayers make a practice of boldly declaring what it is you seek in the coming days, weeks and months ahead. One might say “I will overcome this obstacle,” or better: “this obstacle is the best way forward!” In your prayers boldly design your future.

So there we have it, looking forward with boldness and looking back with gratitude. If we can do this, if we can connect with the ancient energy of January, we will not only change ourselves, we will change the world and I can’t think of a better prayer than that.

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