The sun’s rays light up a panorama of empty streets, houses still wrapped in sleep, and in street corners the evidence of the over-indulgence of the previous night. Solitary strollers encounter solitary cats sliding by. Some, very few, intrepid joggers defy convention for an early morning run in which only they can enjoy the glorious morning.

The first morning of the brand new year. A morning, such as it was, of glorious sunshine and tepid temperature. In the clear light of the morning the emotions of the midnight dissipate as if they are dawn mists. The drink-fuelled atmosphere of ‘volemose bene’, mutual good will, promises that will not be kept, love for all, ambitions that will not be realised, the hackneyed messages sent or received via SMS – all go up in smoke and are swept away in the sun’s piercing rays.

So too are swept away by this glorious morning, fears that the previous night may have engendered – the year itself with its ominous 13, fears of an economic meltdown across the world – maybe the fiscal cliff that threatened the US, the collapse of the euro that threatened most of last year, to say nothing about the Maya promise of doom and the various doomsday scenarios inspired by so many movies and caused by episodes of extreme weather conditions.

The first day of the new year is always like this. Think of the first day of AD 1000, before which most people believed the world would end just before that year was reached, when many farmers, egged on by priests and monks, legt their fields uncultivated and animals without food. Then 1 January 1000 dawned and everybody looked rather foolish.

Or, nearer home, the people who believed the mysterious prediction of three days of darkness in the 1960s, although it was neither on 1 January nor did it have a proper date.

The world, in other words, has not ended and we are still here. We all have a life to live and most of us have ambitions and targets they know they can reach. We all have responsibilities and duties that only we can perform. In most cases, there are people dependent upon us which we must not disappoint.

The Christmas holidays are drawing to an end and by tomorrow, or the day after, or next week, life will have resumed its normal pace. The Christmas holidays centre around the family, in many cases the extended one. While this suits most people, and accounts for the magic of Christmas, there are increasing cases where such enforced closeness and imtimacy ill sits on persons and families in distress. For such, and they are many, the resumption of work comes as a blessing.

The Christmas holidays have also meant a supposed suspension of political activites. In fact, as we all know, there was no real suspension at all. The party leaders, (to be truthful, more Lawrence Gonzi than Joseph Muscat) kept up with appearances here, there and everywhere, not least on Facebook. Dr Muscat gave a presidential (or prime ministerial) end of the year address.

We know the country faces an election and we even know the date. The coming two months till 9 March will be filled with electioneering. The first mass meetings have already been announced. People are agog to start while others are filled with increased dread.

And yet, for all, the message from this first morning of the year is the same: you see things clearer in the morning than at night, and the morning’s rays sweep away many of the fears of the previous night. It is time to face up to our responsibilities.