When I say “Happy New Year!” to people I find myself doing so with a bit of internal unsureness. While it’s true that many of us have been happy to welcome 2021 and thus to put 2020 in our rearview mirrors, plenty of us continue to experience the hardships (emotional, relational, financial, etc…) brought on by the challenges of the year gone by.  Therefore, the seemingly whimsical greeting of presumed happiness in the new year may not be applicable or even particularly welcome to some.

And yet through all of this, we as people of faith and harborers of hope sojourn on, mindfully cultivating goodwill…for ourselves, for others, and for the future which begins in the present. That is what drew me to this poem by William Stafford. Its message is profound in its simplicity, as is the tiny and powerful word he chose for the title.

Blessings in this new year loved ones.
Lori

It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon.  It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could, you know.  That’s why we wake
and look out – no guarantees
in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.