The attraction of the new!

There is something attractive about anything new. Children are excited to get new shoes, new toys, new clothes. Older people who can afford it are proud of their new house, new furniture, a new car.

A relocated settlement calls itself new: bagong bayan. A newspaper proudly calls itself Bagong Buhay. Spanish-language newspapers have titles like Nueva Era, Nuevo Horizonte.

Demosthenes made fun of the Athenians who had no-thing else to do but haunt the agora looking for new: "Le-getal ti kainon?" "Is there something new?"

When one has made a mess of things, is it not a relief to be told, "Let’s forget the past. Let’s start anew?"

There is something very expressive in the familiar me-taphor: "He turned a new page (or a new leaf) in his life." A new page. A clean slate. No blots. No mistakes. A fresh start.

Those who rise early have the joy of seeing the break of a new day. At first the sky is totally dark. Then gradually, it begins to whiten. Then it begins to color, at first a delicate rose-color, then flaming red. And finally the golden sunrise that colors everything with gold.

There are famous descriptions of the dawn in literature, Homer’s phrase is famous: rododaktulos he-ws, "the rosy-fingered dawn." And Shakespeare’s: "Night’s candles are all out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops."

There is nothing lovelier than the early morning, when the world seems new, like a new creation.

That is what is wonderful about the New Year.

In a sense we are merely fooling ourselves. After all, physically and in reality, there is probably no difference between December 31st and January 1st. It is the same sun. Or the same rain. Or the same dust and mud. But in our thinking there is a world of difference between those two days. December 31st belongs to the Old Year. January 1st belongs to the New.

And what is wonderful about the New Year is that it is full of possibilities. It is like a clean new page. A clean slate. A chance to make a fresh start.

A new year is a fresh gift from God. After all, we could have died in the Old Year. That we have lived to see a New Year is an added gift.

What will this New Year bring? Will it bring us the same political troubles, caused by politicians greedy for power and money, or simply stupid? Will it bring us the same economic troubles as before? Will there be the same threats to our peaceful existence? The same social imbalance? The same corruption and inefficiency among government officials?

An election comes this year. Will it be like so many elections in the past – dirty, corrupt, bloody? Or will it be clean, honest, transparently conducted? Will voters again sell their votes? Or will they vote as conscientious, responsible citizens?

May God in His infinite mercy bless our New Year. May He give us new hope, a new enlightenment, and a renewed courage and strength to do the right thing as He desires. And may God, who is infinite compassion, give us a compassionate attitude towards the weak and the needy.