... and a joyous New Year

This time of year has its ups and downs for so many, but the fact that a new year is coming always gives me hope that, perhaps, the new year will give all disappointed souls a new slate upon which they may carve their successes and their legacies...

"So ... this is Christmas" ...

I don't have to look all over the world to find loneliness and despair. Along with happiness, there is also loneliness and desperation all around us. I can't justify closing my eyes to it. So many unfortunate folks are looking for anything to feel "safe", and are seeking shelter wherever they can find it. With all the cutbacks over the last year in mental health, it is bound to just get worse - until some sanity is returned to the legislature and governing bodies. Except for the very wealthy, everyone else seems struggling in one way or the other to make ends meet, physically, financially, and mentally - and, mental health systems have become a major victim. We're now at "war" with a figure of speech, people's minds, and religious teachings. One could say it's not a very good time for the country or the world ...

And yet thankfully, we still feel ... "Christmas". While we hopefully celebrate the joy of Christmas in some way, we still get lonely, still have compassion for old friends, family, and those who are struggling or suffering. But, those feelings too are a good thing - a saving grace for the human race. It means that we have not lost our compassion or capacity to love and to "forgive". Along with the "foundation" of Christmas, it is also a kind of "peace" ... that we all need in some way, regardless of our faith.

"So this is Christmas" (a great song) comes to mind .... and there is hope: for 2007 and beyond - many happy new years - "without any fear" ... and there is "hope"... always. It is there - somewhere within us all. That, I "believe".

... don't have to travel far

I find (more so as time passes) that you don't have to travel far ... to
really "see" the "world"... It is infinitely within us, all around
us, great and small, and without price or lavishness. The true
"beauty" in this world is "free" to the seeker. I think it has
always been so, just not always "visible" to those who may have
become "distracted". And, from time to time - we are all distracted,
because we are ... so very human. If somehow we never "knew" pain,
struggle, doubt, fear, sorrow, worry, empathy, and sacrifice - then
we couldn't ever know or be content with "peace" as it holds our hand
and takes its place at our side.... Such, I believe, is the pursuit of
happiness in our lives, and such then ... is our legacy.