THE first month of the year was named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings or in other words, the god of openings, by Julius Caesar (July 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC). Janus was also called the god of doors and gates.
Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome declared January 1st a national holiday in honor of Janus, the god with two faces, one looking forward and one looking back. Medieval Christians then attempted to replace January 1 with more religiously significant dates but Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 revised a calendar that officially established January 1 as New Year’s Day.
Early medieval Christian thinkers were really thinking. To have a continuous celebration of the season, they conveniently placed New Year’s Day a week after Christmas Day and a week into the first month comes the Three Kings bearing gifts for the King of Kings.
If not for the official declaration of January 1 as New Year’s Day a week after Christmas Day by Pope Gregory XIII, the world today could awkwardly be celebrating Christmas Day and New Year’s Day in two separate seasons.
Life truly is full of conflicts. Whatever, we all wish for the best everytime the New Year comes, and may those wishes come true. Once I was told that to attain a good percentage of that, the best move is to choose the opposite in order to come up with a positive result.
Quite similar to the Law of Interaction which says “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” You have a list of wishes but it is not easy to choose the best. Sometimes, there are wishes that need opposite actions that need to be done.
I do wish that the act of forgiving someone comes easy even to one who does not deserve to be forgiven. I wish people have enough patience when things seem to be unreachable, and for people to be calm in times of anguish.
When one wants to shout at the top of his voice, I wish that he chooses the opposite and be quiet instead. I wish that people learn to love those who hate them, to include the excluded, to forgive without apology, and to be strong to accept mistakes.
I wish that we get disappointed too in order to realize the importance of doing favors for others, never to refuse their simple requests in order to remember the little kindness that we received in the past.
I do wish that our failures make us realize humility. I wish that our losses make us value the little that we have left, and may our spirits be broken so that God may save our souls. I do wish that when one feels he needs to be comforted, he comforts someone instead; to suffer the pain of a broken heart in order to make others happy, and smile when he feels like crying.
I wish that we all be part of other peoples’ lives even while we do not know where to fit. I do hope that pieces of us fill the empty spaces in other people’s lives who will feel that they may never be complete without others.
May you be blessed with the best in 2024 and may your wishes all come true!
