The year that might be

By the Maker’s assessment, it was not a bad year at all, and if it is a question of whether it could have been better, there is still the year to come for all that. But all the signs say 2012 will be a year like no other. You can feel it in the wind. And not just because there is the prediction that 2012 would be the end of all things as we know it. On the other hand, what can any good Bisayan do in the light of that but say: “Bring it on!”

The prediction of the world ending is probably so much hype. After all, the world has been supposed to be ending since year 2000. After a while, one gets tired of all that. And if it ends not just for some but for all of us, the good Bisayan is bound to say, “Bahala na!”

The predicted end might turn out to be  just another feast. There would be a countdown. And surely, we would have fireworks and lots to eat and drink. Everyone will be emptying out their wine cellars. And for those who would rather drink something stronger, it would be a quick easy trip to the lines at the ATMs. Not much reason left to save. So buy all the food you can. As the Roman warriors once said: “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow, we die.” And if tomorrow we all die, a bit of a hangover will be the last thing to worry about.

But if one is Catholic, one has to time one’s last confession well. After that, one’s last mass and then one’s last communion. There would be time before that to commit one last major sin, if only for the sake of old times—a quick preamble to atonement and redemption. And right before everything ends, another shot, a bit of conversation, a last laugh, one last smile, one easy touch of the hand to say: “Everything is all right. See you on the other side.”

But for those who do not believe there is “the other side,” it is still well and good. After the end, there would only be only nothingness. And we would not even realize we are there or not there, anymore. Nothingness is happily incapable of remembering. Neither is it capable of regret or further suffering. Nothingness is capable only of peace. And if it is peace we are ultimately after, then peace will be all that we  have.

And if all these come to their end this year, 2012, we would all do well to continue life as we always have done. If any alternation is necessary, it should only be for us to be less disturbed, less caring of those things that usually bug us. It is a good year to strive to be happy. If 2012 is man’s last year, its overlying theme should be: Joy!

And of course, the striving to be happy would be different for each of us. But even so, if indeed the end is that near, we should all feel closer to each other. We might all see we are all the same, residents of a single planet, people of a single world, looking forward to a single impending fate. And we might all draw some solace from that. Perhaps we would all cease hurting each other  as much as we do now. Perhaps we would make 2012 also the year of loving each other, an appropriate end to two million years of being here.

And there should be another revival of that old, old song:

What the world needs now

Is love, sweet love.

Its the only thing that there’s just too little of.

What the world needs now

Is love, sweet love.

No, not just for some,

But for everyone.

As it might be the last, one really Happy New Year!