New Year, Same Old (bleep)?

Yesterday, January 2nd, I was walking out of a store, and I passed a man who I see occasionally but who I don’t know. We seem to be on a similar morning schedule, so our paths cross at least few times a week, and we smile at one another and say “good morning,” “have a good one,” or some other casual pleasantry.

Yesterday, he said “happy new year,” and I said it back. Then I added, “new year…,” and before I could finish the thought (I’m not exactly sure what I was going to say, but it was likely going to be something hopeful like, “new opportunities,” “new horizons,” “new possibilities”), he cut in and said “same old $#*@!” We both laughed and continued on our respective ways.

New year, same old $#*@!

It stuck with me all day, and I woke up still ruminating on it this morning.

It was an innocent comment, a joke, made by a man I don’t know, and he said it with a smile. But there was a sadness under that smile, and it got under my skin, and I haven’t been able to shake it.

How many people trudge through life, wearing the same worn path day after day, grinning and bearing the bit and bridle that leads them nowhere in particular and certainly not where they ever dreamed or intended to go?

Is that life? Is that just the cold, harsh reality that we will eventually all have to come to grips with? This is absolutely anathema to my own life-view, but it seems that there are so many who are dealing with this type of persistent, low-grade, existential angst. How tragic! How heartbreaking! How can we shake ourselves out of this bleak and debilitating mindset?!

I was thinking on this as I davened this morning, and, as often happens, I realized that the answer is right there in this week’s parsha. Joseph has been sold by his brothers many year ago into slavery. He suffered many indignities as a slave and then prisoner in Egypt, but eventually he became the viceroy of the land, second only to Pharaoh. When he is finally reunited with his brothers in parshas Vayigash, he tells them not to be ashamed of what they did to him, for “it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:8). Three times he repeats the words “God sent me,” and it is this phrase that each of us must repeat to ourselves daily.

God sent you here! For a reason. With a purpose. It’s not always clear what that is, and like Joseph, we will likely have to endure many trials and tribulations before it is revealed to us. But we must believe, and indeed train ourselves to know, that we are not aimless, arbitrary, or unnecessary. We are here, every one of us, to make a difference and an impact in this world. Each of us has a role to play in the correction and perfection of the creation. And that is not just a bit part or an occasional gig, but it is a daily job and a featured, vital role.

When we internalize the fact that God sent me here, then a new year, and a new day for that matter, can never be the same old anything. Every moment is a brand new opportunity to discover and fulfill the purpose for which I was created and recreated daily. Perhaps today it is simply to remind the stranger that you pass in the street that s/he too was sent here by God.

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