It's Thursday, just Thursday

It's now time for 'normal' people to be getting ready for the big night....the offices have closed early....the party platters are waiting to be picked-up, there are millions of brightly colored paper hats and streamers....confetti in ribbons, confetti in little chad pieces (which, by the way, was the origin of confetti). Soon people will be gathering for meals, drinks and other forms of fellowship....some will get drunk and need a ride home....some will get drunk and drive home anyway....some will not make it home.

Ever since I finally got on the road to sobriety back in May of 1983, I have become less and less interested in New Year's Eve (NYE) for it is, at its core, all about drinking. Rare indeed is the social gathering that meets tonight without any alcohol to help lubricate the proceedings. Yes, I know that my fellow Christians can and will be meeting at each other's homes and for those select few, there will be a rampant rash of sobriety abounding.

Fact is, I don't much care for NYE ever since I quit being a musician back in the bad old days. Back then NYE was the big money night....you would walk off with a nice wad for the same amount of work you did on all the other band nights.....more like what you should have been getting paid in the first place.

So now I don't "do" NYE anymore for three reasons:

1. It's dangerous. I used to drive home for an hour in a total alcoholic blackout. The last statistic I knew twenty years ago said that 25% of the population had an alcohol problem. What's that like today, especially when you add drugs into the mix? I don't want to be on the road when I know that at least one in four vehicles on the road is being piloted by someone who is as bad off as I used to be.
2. I don't play music in the secular world anymore and there are no gigs for Christian musicians on NYE in my area so I guess I'm not going to be getting geared up for a big bash tonight or any other NYE.
3. The biggest reason is that I don't drink. No booze equals very little reason to 'party'. If I had an invitation to share the eve with Christian friends it would definitely be with the understanding that I would leave early anyway to get home and crash at a human hour. So by the grace of a loving Higher Power that I call God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, I am free from the deadly obsession of booze one day at a time. God bless the beautiful, simple precepts and 12 steps of AA for helping me get started back on the road to the true healer, Jesus.

So to all my loyal fans, all one of them, let me say "Have a Happy and Safe New Year!" May God continue to bless us all in this coming year as He always has.