MANILA, Philippines – A praiseworthy Philippine custom is to greet the New Year with an hour of prayer on the last hour of the ending year. It is an opportunity to thank the Almighty for the past year with its successes and a word of thanks even for the difficulties and to ask for guidance and strength for the coming year. The New Year, we hope and pray, will bring joy and happiness to all the family, the community, and the nation. The prayer may be a mixture of meditation and vocal prayers, especially consecrations to the Sacred Heart and Our Lady. Of course the noise of fire crackers can be a real distraction but it is worth while to persevere in prayer for this hour. The hour goes fast and ends with the crescendo of the noise makers as the New Year bows in.

Earlier on the last day of the year, some planning is appropriate. Foreseeing the potentials of the coming year can make the year ahead more fruitful. A review of health, finances, outreach to others, and the faith dimension of life are useful. One resolution that is important is to reestablish the examen (or daily personal audit) if it has fallen by the wayside or at least to reinvigorate the practice of the daily planning and audit of one’s life. After meditation there is nothing as important as an audit in the progress for self-development. It consists of two planning periods during the day which takes only two or up to 10 minutes. The first period is in the morning as one awakes; one plans the day in general and chooses a particular area for scrutiny or improvement. The second period is at the end of the day doing a review of its highlights, successes, and failures. The critical practice in this is to jot down the number of successes or failures (ideally in a pocket notebook). This is the secret of great men. Businesses would get nowhere without accounting. And this is personal accounting for self-improvement. (A health instructor used to say, he could tell who would succeed in losing weight or building a body almost from the start by noting who keeps diary notes of exercises performed each day.) The next important caution is to make sure to do this examen or audit every day for an extended period of time if not always. To slack off after two or three weeks is the common experience and here a strong resolve is needed. The evening session can start with a prayer of thanksgiving for the day and then go into the review of the day both in general and in the particular fault or virtue one has chosen to single out. This particular focus should be changed every two or three weeks although that virtue or fault can be revisited later. The great spiritual fathers remind us that if we are able to overcome one fault in one year or two faults in three years the effort will make us saints.

May I suggest a focus on promptness for a great many of us as a starter. Promptness saves time and even saves from unhealthy emotions. When engagements are important there is nothing as useful as planning to be 10 minutes ahead of time. Planning to be present just on time can be frustrated by last-minute distractions. It invariably results in being late for the appointment.

Justice delayed is justice denied is an accepted legal principle and the injustice of delay is similarly valid in other sectors. Delaying the start of a meeting because of late comers is rewarding the late comers and punishing those who come on time. Delaying salaries is avoided by good managers like sin. Delayed timing in production causes rejects and inefficiency. Procrastination seldom leads to better judgment. Keeping food longer than needed over a fire will result in burnt food. Filipino time is nothing more than rural time. In the rural areas there are no clocks so timing can be when the sun rises or when the sun sets or at high noon. Urban life requires working by the clock. What is often called "Filipino time" is really rural time. The lack of promptness or discipline to adhere to exact time is common in rural areas. “A stitch on time saves nine.” The tear on a cloth tends to get bigger unless remedied properly when noticed. Promptness may be a particular virtue for Filipinos moving from a rural setting to an urban life style.<emeterio_Barcelon@yahoo.com>