Revelation 21

I have vivid memories of years past when all sorts of firecrackers are heard at this time of year, the more explosive, the better.  Even when martial law was operative then when firecrackers were prohibited, the noise continued unabated.  But it's so quiet nowadays.  Times change, perhaps millennials aren't as interested as the generation X.  Nevertheless, I prefer the peace and quiet of a serene meditation of life as it is, and life henceforth through the cycling of a new revolution of our planet around her star.  Incidentally the church year starts about a month earlier than the calendar year.

Such noisy tradition was introduced by the early Chinese settlers as a way of driving away bad luck and bad spirits from the place accompanying the new year.  There is this focus on the destruction of the old and building of the new.

About the end of the physical earth or perhaps the universe, when will it all end?  It's anybody's guess, maybe 1 year, 80 years, 1 billion years, 4 billion, or perhaps 10¹⁰¹²⁰, or even 10¹⁰¹⁰⁵⁶ years!  The last two figures may very well be synonymous with forever.  The former relates to the final energy state of the universe, while the latter points to a time when quantum tunneling could have generated new universes.  Science provides for the concept of destruction and renewal that comes at new year.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling of God is with men.  He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.'

"And he who sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'  Also he said, 'Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.'

"And he said to me, 'It is done! I am the Α and the Ω, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.  He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son.  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.'" (vv 1-8 RSV)

As a short digression, I'm using this GNOME password manager called Revelation (0.4.14), adopting the last book of the bible for its name, also called the Apocalypse.  The Revelation of St. John reveals many secrets in the eschatology that it might be useful to read it, but be aware of the ubiquitous symbolism in the book that the unstable will likely misinterpret.