Let’s start with a prayer for the New Year: “Lord, I seek for direction in the year 2021; I pray that You will direct me in the name of Jesus. Lord, I refuse to work in darkness in the year 2021; I pray that Your spirit will guide me; I pray that Your Holy Spirit and power will protect my family and me in the year 2021 in the name of Jesus.”
It would not be an exaggeration for this Ibaloy writer to claim that all, if not most, of Earth’s denizens can’t wait for 2020 to be over. This accursed year saw the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic from Wuhan, China that continues to cause death and economic ruin worldwide. So, goodbye and good riddance to 2020!
Unfortunately, it seems that Covid-19 or the China virus as U.S. Pres. Donald Trump calls it, will still be tormenting us until 2021 and maybe even beyond. New Covid strains or variants are even being reported. Yikes!
Since the New Year is usually the time for making individual resolutions, maybe we should include adhering to minimum health protocols other than losing weight, quitting smoking, and the like. Maybe becoming more disciplined next year as often reminded by Mayor Benjie Magalong.
Obviously, resolutions, like promises, are easily broken and forgotten. Just look at some of our honorable politicians who will be spouting promises and smiling at us again in preparation for the 2022 elections. Anyway, there is no harm in sincerely trying to keep our resolutions intact. Much better than not trying at all.Happy New Year! Cheers!
Here’s “Friend” by Gabriel Baban Keith: “In the afternoon of his life,/ my friend sees evening creeping/ around the corner laughing/ at his crushed dreams dreamt/ in his life’s morning./ Deep inside, my friend knows all along,/ yet, naively hopes that fairness prevails./ But fairness does not exist in reality./ It languishes in the sewers of fantasy./ He is a fool for hoping so./ A fool for praying so./ By now, my friend should know,/ his dreams will never grow/ in this land of “Who-You-Know”./ Yet, the foolish dreamer that he is,/ my friend still keeps on trying/ to keep the child inside him/ from dying.”
