Dr. Rabia Nazir
I have been trying to conjure something meaningful to commemorate the departure of 2017, or may be to welcome the arriving 2018, either in words or in deeds or even in thoughts. I am totally clueless. No idea, what so ever, to be happy or sad at the minute. I do not find anything different about the setting sun of 2017, and I am positive there won’t be anything new in the first sunrise of 2018, as well. I am pretty sure, the sunrise in the morning will be as beautiful, as every sunrise of 2017 had been. It won’t have any new glory to bestow upon us. Just like the setting of today’s sun, that is the last sunset of December 31st, 2017, is not really taking away anything along with it. What has gone by is time. What is arriving tomorrow is again some more time.
Celebrations are not meaningful until the reason for celebration carries some weight. Merely, the passage of time does not become a reason to rejoice. However customary it might sound to celebrate the new year eve, the human mind has evolved enough by today, to reason with the customs and rituals we have been observing just for the sake of walking on the same paths, that our ancestors had paved for themselves, eons ago. The sunsets have always appeared exceptionally captivating, irrespective of the day of the year. The sunrises have never failed to bring new hope to the dismal hearts, bleeding overnight, any morning of the year. It’s not the “time” we ought to be celebrating. It’s “us”, “our passion”, “our dreams” that truly have some meaning. It’s the hope that rises in each one of us, that should be cherished. It’s the hope that when dies in any one of us, should be mourned.
The new year resolutions do not really last longer than the first few days into any new year. Because, we celebrate the “time”, trying to “reinforce”, coming and passing of it, which is free of any impact upon it by human activity. This time is not absolute, but yet cannot be described as relative to any of our activities, within the realm of our mortal existence. Therefore, the excitement and zeal around this time of the year mainly circumambulates the leading brands of instant gratification.
Yes, the idea of rejuvenation on the pretext of “Happy New Year” is worthless, unless it has the power of connecting with any persona of absolute existence. Lo, it does! The Gregorian calendar is todays internationally accepted civil calendar and is also known as the Western or Christian calendar. It relates a lot to the absolute prowess of the Omnipotent, but not exactly for the non-Christian population of the world. What do we need to address here? We need to decide whether we want to conform to the Christian beliefs by celebrating in unison the commencement of the Gregorian New Year, or we prefer to have some substance of our own and adorn our own system of beliefs, and either be proud of our own faith or consider the alternative of living the lives of those who live on the edge, who are not the true believers, who if given an opportunity would willingly trade the word of God, for the petty worldly gains.
It’s probably not that serious of a concern as I view it in the bigger picture, of global village, willfully heading fast towards the New World Order, in a cult following, but it is significant for a mother like myself, who is responsible for rearing three young individuals. The concepts I endorse today, are the beacon houses towards which my kids will steer their lives. Therefore, Happy New Year to all, with a significant pang of guilt deep down, somewhere. May you all learn to connect your relative time to the absolute Omnipotent soonest. Hail happiness that comes with people and good deeds. Adios.
