Goodbye 2011!

What a year this has been! It seemed just like not too long ago we ushered in 2011, and here we are at the end of it. Tomorrow marks the beginning of another year. Before you know it, 2012 will be over as well with a lot of events transpiring in it.

Towards the latter part of this month, I got incredibly busy—infact so busy that I didn’t get the chance to blog as often as I would have hoped. I am looking forward to continuing next year, although it is pretty clear to me that I may not have much to say for much of the first month of 2012. At any rate, in the time that transpired, a notable atheist Christopher Hitchens finally succumbed to esophageal cancer at 62; and the North Korean leader Kim Jung IL died at the age of 69.

On the Nigerian front, we have been assailed by news of the terrible Christmas day bombing of churches carried out by Boko Haram in some parts of Northern Nigeria as well as the vacuous and insensitive statements coming from the Goodluck administration regarding this growing menace. We have seen the Barcelona football club trounce their eternal rivals 3-1 on their rival’s home pitch and how they went ahead to the World Club Championship in Japan and carried the gold. We have also noticed the less-than-satisfactory performance of the Redskins, the Eagles, the Colts and a number of other teams this year. We have seen Green Bay Packers continue to put up impressive numbers and wins thereby setting themselves up as the team to beat for the Super Bowl.

In the world of politics (as the year winds down), we have witnessed the eventual exit of Herman Cain from the Republican presidential race. We have noticed the nerry-go-round quality of the race whereby different contenders have seemingly had the opportunity to be head of the pack as the race goes on. We have seen how the Mitt Romney Campaign in these latter times have shot ahead of his rivals making him the prime target of vitriolic ads. We have seen how the hitherto neglected Ron Paul has suddenly shot into second place in the soon-to-be-held Iowa caucuses. It is regrettable that Michele Bachman has fallen to the last position despite her initial Tea party-backed support. We have seen a Newt Gingrich that is desperately trying to cling to the top position that he held about a week ago and the ensuing politics of bitterness between him and the Romney camp. We have seen a congress that has largely been incapable of coming together to do even the basic requirements expected of them because of the hyper-partisanship that dominates Washington. As a matter of fact, if I were to continue writing of the events that have seemingly transpired in the last few weeks of this year, this blog may suddenly become very long. I’ll wait for JibJab to come up with a hilarious cartoon song recounting some of the major events that has happened this year.

But here is something to note. On the last day of every year, such as today, many people usually have some tradition or the other of welcoming in the New Year even as they pray and wish and hope for the coming year to usher in more prosperity and success than the previous year. Some people may even go to their various centers of worship to solemnly usher in the New Year with strong expectations of blessings from on high. In the end however, what we can observe is that the year that eventually comes unfailingly comes with its fair share of joys and sorrows. Indeed, it will be utterly impossible for any given year to note come with some degree of grief, disappointments, sorrow or some form of deprivation. Perhaps, it is time for people to factor these into their considerations even as they bessech the Almighty for continuing protection, health, long life, financial or material prosperity etc. Perhaps, it is time for people to realize that in the end, with or without their prayers, as it has been appointed unto them, they will unfailingly taste the milk of successes or fulfilled dreams as well as the bitter waters of disappointment or sorrow. This realization—that no matter the prayers offered, every one of us must come to grips with the not-so-pleasant vicissitudes of life—should indeed inspire us to soldier on and to learn from whatever lessons life has for us.

It is with this realization that I silently wish you a God-centered, prosperous New Year. May you reap the special blessings that have been ordained for you by your maker, and may you also learn and grow from the thorny experiences that the same maker specially appoints for you.

See you all in 2012!