Old or new, laugh

By Al S. Mendoza

A new year comes to us in two days.

What is new?

How can it be new?

When is new new?

Who can make it new?

New is something we either usually abhor or welcome with open arms.

For example, we abhor things that change our routine.  Habits die hard, indeed.

Suddenly waking up at 3 in the morning (4 a.m. Misa de Gallos, remember?) instead  of  the usual   8 may meet strong resistance.  What’s been good for quite a time need not be changed, right?

You just can’t kick a habit, especially if the habit’s been good all along.

However, if we concentrate on the positive side of the change, the long-range good result of the new lifestyle that we have to adopt, then we can be willing to embrace the transformation.

New is new when it discards the old.  2008 will displace 2007 and there’s nothing we can do about that.

But what differentiates the absolute new from the selective new?

2008 is absolute new. No ifs and buts. 2007 isn’t just old; it’s history. 2008 is now, the present.

Selective new is when you modify the old.  For example, you used to drink a case of beer per day.  You change it to half a case of beer per day.

You drink less, but the newness of it ends there. The drinking remains.

It’d be different if you quit drinking altogether. That’d be the absolute new I’d been hammering about all along.

Who can make new new?

Well, in the name of science, only time makes things new.

Time makes flowers. Time makes these flowers into fruits.

To the pious, the faithful, God makes time, God made time.  All creation is made by God, even science or, to be blunt, the scientist.

There’s nothing new there.

Years are made by time a.k.a. God. We are but witnesses to the newness of things, of time.

We can’t   stop the passing of years. 2008 will come whether we like it or not. 2009, 2010, they will all come, too. No science can stop the arrival of the new. Only God can.

But while a year is totally new, Father Time is never new:  It’s been with us all this time; it will be with us till the end of time.

The thing is, each time Mr. New/Ms New comes along, we need to re-examine ourselves to know whereof we stand.

So, how are we going to greet the new year — with hatred or love, with cynicism or hope?

Your choice, guys and gals.

Me?  I’ll be as is, where is. Next to the golden rule (don’t do unto others what you don’t want others do unto to you), is my continued adherence to the Big Boss’ counsel, “Without me, you can do nothing.”

Likewise, the wisdom of Valentin Dakuykoy, I take to heart: “It’s not the great things we do or the people who applaud that matters, but the friends who, when we screw up, break down, fall apart, or hit the floor, still stick around and help us laugh through it all!”

Happy New Year!

(Readers may reach columnist at also147@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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