To the New Year!

The January blog began as a reflection on Christmas and the brave entrance of 2020. I jotted down a possible beginning: The joyful anticipation of Christmas imprinted on our minds and hearts as children lasts a lifetime even when the magic spreads thin.

Setting aside my pencil, I scanned CTV, CBC and CNN for stories of people optimistically preparing for the New Year. Instead, I found story after story on war, racism, religious intolerance, and disasters caused by climate change.

“Th’ whole worl’s in a terrible state o’ chassis!” Jack Boyle’s words from Sean O’Casey’s play, Juno and the Paycock, flashed through my mind, pushing aside any seasonal reflections. My blog was threatening to turn into a full-blown thesis on world affairs and the planet’s fragility.

But then I recalled a variation on the Serenity Prayer.
“God,
grant me the serenity
to accept the people I cannot change,
the courage to change the one I can,
and the wisdom to know it’s me.”

There is nothing else to say. And so I leave you with a collage, toasting the New Year, and sincerely wishing you peace, joy and hope.