As the New Year Dawns

In 2021 – our 11^th year – we hope to corral the pandemic and turn our backs on the cultural and political discord that threatens to destroy the goodness that is inherent in each of us.  It is in our DNA to do the right thing.  We were born in original goodness.

To turn our backs does not mean to ignore those important things that demand our attention.  It means to disregard those fruitless efforts – no matter how well-intentioned – that characterized 2020.  It means to discover fresh, new, invigorating, and positive ways to make the world a better place, ways that do not include the vitriolic hate and fist-waving that accompanied too much rhetoric and bloviation last year.

The two most important stories in all of literature – oral and written – are the story of the good Samaritan and the story of the adulterous woman.  The first easily defines our human obligation to ensure that all life matters and that we are indeed our brother’s keeper.  The second story defines unconditional love… “Neither do I condemn you.”  No one is without fault.

If we lead our lives with those thoughts foremost in our minds

All Life Matters

Unconditional Love

We will make the world a better place to be for ALL LIFE.

Please purposefully commit those concepts to the core of your being in 2021.  Write that purpose on the standard you bear every day as you face the challenges we share together.  As the Shema tells us

“These things must be written as a sign on your hand and a badge on your forehead.”

Actions, not merely words will advance the goodness in each of us.

Please continue to make prayer a part of your life. Pray for peace and pray for children.

“Prayer is the presence that holds harmony in the midst of chaos. Every time you pray, you add to the light and harmony of creation. If you do not pray, if you do not believe in prayer, then you are living off the prayers of other people.”

John O’Donohue, 1956 – 2008

Be kind.

Mitakuye Oyasin