Welcome 2014: Happy New Year Manipur

By Lunminthang Haokip *

Past Forward: Imphal, 25 years back, was quieter. The streets did not have traffic congestion. The capital town had roads wide enough to take the traffic load of the total number of vehicles it got registered in the Motor Vehicle Department. To put it in a different way, lesser citizens of the Manipuri town-ship enjoyed the purchasing power to buy motor cars as compared to the mad rush to possess two and four wheelers that has become the fad of the day. It speaks loud for the improving economy of Manipur that its citizens have become more "mobile" with "hand-sets" in pockets, and the roads of Imphal are prone to frequent traffic-jams.

New Year Every Year: The first day of January, 2011 went down in history as the day of four ones. That is 1-1-11. The 24th December, 2013 saw the worst vehicular tussle for space on Imphal streets. For Christians, the Christmas Eve was usually a busy and hectic occasion. Like Joseph and Mary, the earthly parents of infant Jesus, who had to go back to the place they belonged to, Bethlehem, just before the birth of Christ, to pay tax and get themselves registered in the census records of their time, it had been an annual habit for Christians of India to celebrate Christmas with their own folks in far-flung native places. As officials take leave and take work easy till New Year day, one sees lesser vehicles plying on the roads on 25.12.13.

Thanlon: 24.12.13: Half of Churachandpur DHQ's bureaucratic rank and file were stationed at Thanlon Block HQ to participate in the inaugural function of 33/11 KV power sub-station, foundation-stone laying event for 132/33 KV power station and the launching of "IAY Package for Thanlon Block" by the Hon'ble Chief Minister, Manipur, Shri O.Ibobi. Two Hon'ble Ministers of Manipur and Pu Vungzagin Valte, P/Secretary, Manipur and circle MLA of Thanlon were in the warmly-received entourage of the Hon'ble CM. The projects were noteworthy Christmas gifts to Thanlon by the Govt. of Manipur. The VVIP visit brought back wide smiles to Thanlon residents, so much so that some village-folks momentarily forgot the Christmas event to happen on the next day.

Christmas Fever: Meanwhile, the roads of downtown Lamka were chock-a-block with vehicular traffic. Inhabitants of the second town of the State were engaged in a Christmas-shopping spree, much to the "joy" of shop-keepers. But the feelings of parents were mixed – mixed with the compulsion to make children happy with up-market gifts and the awareness of financial bankruptcy to come in January, 2014. In the shade of moments, on Christmas Eve, bashes and Gospel events were conducted almost in every locality worth its name. Concerts, Advent Christmas get-togethers, family dinner invitations, Gospel Idol-contests etc made the "land of Presidents" create some more "precedents". Members of some upwardly mobile families criss-crossed on the busy lanes with no time to meet and talk.

Welcome New Year: The backblocks of Manipur may look calm and lonesome. One sees no much activity post-Christmas. But every village in the hills that has a Church building come alive, fully decked up, on the Eve of New Year. The youth get cracking to give a face-lift to whatever meeting hall they have. Like the proverbial orphan who incorrigibly "hopes that the next year would bring in richer blessing", every country resident feels that the coming year would usher in a better deal.

The evening worship service is all about giving thanks to God in songs and prayer. The Church members make it a point to stay back in the hall till midnight of 31st December makes way for an eagerly awaited New Year. The event managers resort to all kinds of entertainment items to keep the audience glued to their seats till next year. Jaw-splitting comedy-of-errors come in full play in social gathering sessions.

Watch-Night Service, A Recurring Event: Laymen's Evangelical Fellowship Church, Langol, Imphal, located a few housing blocks away from the well-known Shija Hospitai of Plastic-Surgery-fame that stands tall on the fringe of the newly acquired NIIT premises, regularly conducts watch-night services one hour before midnight on 31st December every year. Fellowship family members, dressed to the neck to endure the wintry chill, attend in full strength.

Pastor Prakash will deliver Gospel message that will exhort the hearers first to thank God for seeing them safe and secure throughout 2013 and then, to prepare their hearts to enter the next year, that would arrive after a few minutes, with a conscience sprinkled from the burden of guilt. A prayer session usually begins five minutes before midnight to come to end at 00:05 hrs of the New Year.

New Year Merriment 2014: The irony of the happiest first day of a year is that the day also shortens the longevity of one's life by on year at a time. Oblivious of the bitter truth, folks from all walks of life throng the riversides in picnic mode, to eat and drink. Fave locations are the banks of Imphal river from Sekmai to Kangpokpi (now picnics banned, I think). The venue, time and food item of such merriment can be decided in advance. But the end of the same cannot be predicted. The world may party, go footloose and fancy-free on this occasion. Yet, for the discerned believer in Lord Jesus, it is a day of worship and Church service. If carols marked Advent Christmas celebrations, New Year means time to joy in the Lord and pray for continual blessings till the next year-end.

God's Desire: "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another (Ephesians 4:24 & 25)".

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: In the same man, old self and new self co-exist. The old man is the nature of Adam that is insensitive to the prompting of the Spirit. It has no defence-mechanism to protect itself from the temptations of sin. In fact it delights in sinning. But as motor cars are made to ply on smooth roads, it cannot run on rough surfaces like paddy fields.

In the same manner, the human heart had been created to be happy when it has the power to do good and forsake evil. Every vice will appear to be exciting in the beginning but the end-result will be sadness. Receipt of a thousand "Happy New Year" sms-es will not make the recipient happy. That is why St. Paul wrote, to be happy, "Ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (Ephesians 4:22)".

The Enemy Within: Thanks to the breaking of the first commandment in Eden Garden, every man is born with firm grounding in the sin-nature. Come New year, a level-headed person sincerely wishes to do away with the besetting sins he or she alone knows best and come out free from the seize within. Resolutions are made, only to be broken a few weeks later. Like glass or human heart which ultimately gets broken (Seesha ho ya dil ko, akhir toot jata hai), promises are made to be broken. That's the dilemma of Adamic life. The good you want to do you cannot do. The evil you want to avoid, you cannot avoid. And you end up doing things you abhor most.

Remedy for The Malady: "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind (Ephesians 4:23)". You think again and again. Would you allow, on your own accord, for sin to ruin you? The choice is yours. To renew your nature, you need the daily application of the power of the resurrection of Christ to be an over comer. God desires to reclaim the masterpiece of His creation through His son Jesus Christ. The Saviour conquered the sting of the harassment of sin on the cross. The power that divided AD from BC has what it takes to deliver you completely from your habitual weaknesses.

All that you have to do is believe in Jesus, confess your sins and cleanse your conscience by setting past wrongs right. For the believer, the prescription in Romans 6:6 becomes real: "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin".

Choose The Precious: Another year has just set in. There are a thousand things you want to do. But get alone with God and ask yourself honestly. What were the habits that kept you away from achieving what you really wanted to be? Or if you were a believer who had gone berserk in pursuit of the pre-conversion allurements, desiring spiritual status quo, read the Bible prayerfully.

Knowing how to "choose the precious from the vile (Jeremiah 15:19), and how to "redeem the time (Eph. 5:16)", for sure can save one from defeat in the "evil days". Besides, one needs the counsel of anointed counsellors. Regular attendance of Church services and weekly prayer sessions in the company of God-fearing people will serve as deterrents to sin. A spiritual stitch in time will save more than nine probable falls in the future.

Joy to The Amenable: Being one's own man or independent-minded sounds good in worldly dealings. Out-of-the-box thinkers earn respect and recognition. But success doesn't necessarily result in happiness. An old adage said, "success is getting what you want, but happiness is wanting what you get". Many successful people are not happy with what they are and what they achieve. Like an officer and a gentleman, pleasure and joy are two diametrically opposed things. Some men think they have arrived, make attempts to appear happy by laughing loud.

Proverbs 14: 13 says, "Even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness". How true. Comfort, luxury and pleasure often end up in greed for more of such failure to get which means sadness. To enjoy a really happy New Year, there is no alternative to being amenable to correction, forsaking one's old self and seeking the will of God. Anything else will carry across unhappy old year in a seemingly "Happy new Year".

Lunminthang Haokip

* Lunminthang Haokip, a resident of Old Lambulane, Imphal, wrote this article for e-pao.net . He can be contacted at lunminthang(dot)haokip(at)gmail(dot)com or his blog here
This article was webcasted on December 28, 2013.