"At this turning point, as at others, we pause from our struggle to hold on and relax into the passing of what is no more. We pause from our sadness and rest on a carpet of green moss. We pause from our longing and drink in the sufficiency of this moment. We pause from our dread of emptiness and enter a deeper emptiness:still, luminous and sweet. At this turning point, as at others, we take a breath and step forward unprepared but awake. And you, dear sister-brother, from what do you pause at this turning-point, as at others?"  John Davis, teacher, Ridhwan School, Colorado

Speaking with a friend this morning,he asked how I was viewing this turning of the year. I admitted to him that, as years go, this had not been an easy one in some respects. I prefaced this by saying that my statement was certainly relative….in comparison to the challenges many people I know are struggling with, my life has been a piece of cake. This is always the case, isn’t it?  We view our lives in specifics but also in how they compare to others’.

During worship yesterday we spoke of peace…..both inner peace and the absence of war, the living out of justice at its deepest level. As people offered their prayers we expressed sadness, despair, anger, frustration, at the situations of the world…..our seeming lack of power to change, to be enlightened, to be a change agent. I believe we offered these prayers knowing that we are the people of privilege. We do not know what it is like to live with the fear of war at our doorstep every day, the fear for our children’s lives.  We know the specifics of our hopes and our prayers but hold them up to the reality of those for whom we pray.

And so on this eve of a new year, we are held in the balance of what might happen in 2008. This may be the year when, through prayer, creativity, a shedding of ego and tremendous diplomacy, we may end our occupation of other countries. This may be the year when, through hard work, brilliance and sheer luck, cures for diseases which hold us hostage will be found. This may be the year, when we pause and realize what we hold in common is more important than what we believes divides us. This may be the year………..

And so, let us ‘take a breath and step forward unprepared but awake’.

A blessed new year to you all……………….