A Fresh Start

                                  The Serenity Prayer ©Rutherford

As I sit here typing, the light from the window to my left falls across the Serenity Prayer before me, which I stitched years ago.  I hung it there as a reminder that in all circumstances that I encounter, my attitude is a primary factor in how I will endure or overcome them, and that help is only a prayer away.

2017 was one of those years of which Charles Dickens might have said, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . . ."  But the effect of the celebration of the turning of the old year and the coming of the new year is that one gets a sense of a new beginning, a fresh start.  One is drawn toward reflection and consideration of the past year, and despite dark days and times, the gifts of light and joy were also there.  Always, the prayer for Serenity, Courage, and Wisdom should be accompanied by a prayer for Gratitude.  

 The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!  ~Henry Ward Beecher 

Writing in To Bless the Space Between Us, the Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue expresses beautifully the best attitude toward this season of reflection in these stanzas excerpted from his poem "At the End of the Year."

As this year draws to its end,

We give thanks for the gifts it brought

And how they became inlaid within

Where neither time nor tide can touch them.

The days when the veil lifted

And the soul could see delight;

When a quiver caressed the heart

In the sheer exuberance of being here.

Surprises that came awake

In forgotten corners of old fields

Where expectation seemed to have quenched.

The slow, brooding times

When all was awkward

And the wave in the mind

Pierced every sore with salt.

The darkened days that stopped

The confidence of the dawn.

Days when beloved faces shone brighter

With light from beyond themselves;

And from the granite of some secret sorrow

A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,

For all we loved and lost

And for the quiet way it brought us

Nearer to our invisible destination.

And so I greet you, 

                Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Daoibh.  Go n-éirí an bóthar leat!