Do you remember the Saturday Evening Post? I used to like it, primarily for the short stories; I sometimes read it at the library but would now and then buy a copy. My favorite stories were the Alexander Botts stories by William Haslett Upson; being a math nerd my absolute favorite was “Alexander Botts and the Moebius Strip.” Another feature of the magazine was that they had wonderful covers, and many of our favorite Norman Rockwell images first appeared on the cover of the Post. One of their traditions was to have a drawing depicting the Baby New Year on their New Year’s cover. The one below is from 1943, the year I was born.

Using a baby to symbolize the New Year is in no way unique to the Post; we have all seen editorial page cartoon using this image. This symbolism is not new; it goes back to the Greeks around 600 BC. The idea is that the baby represents the birth of a new year, and through the year he will grow into Old Father Time, who also sometimes appears in cartoons. The baby also represents a “rebirth”; the Greeks felt that Dionysus, their god of wine, was reborn on New Year’s as the spirit of fertility.

The third chapter of John recounts a conversation that Jesus had with the Pharisee Nicodemus, and Jesus uses this same metaphor of rebirth. John 3:3 records Him saying, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” My perception is that Nicodemus left the conversation still perplexed. Later he must have understood; John 7:50-51 reports that he defended Jesus before the other Pharisees, and John 19:39-40 says that he was one of the people who prepared the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. He is considered a saint both by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

This New Years it is good for us to see the baby new year as a chance for a do-over in our secular lives (maybe I can lose weight in 2020), but it is also important for us to be thankful for the “rebirth” we have as Christians. Please read John 3:1-21 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Jim