Happy New Year.
And can I just say that 2017 is a year that I’m happy to see in the rearview mirror?
As I write this column, the fires have been burning for two full weeks. I fervently hope that by the time you are reading these words – another two weeks on – that the fire is fully contained, if not completely extinguished.
I am not one to dwell in doom and gloom. Life offers so much richness and possibility. Yet I suspect memories of 2017 will be dominated by the Thomas Fire.
Still, a new year opens its vistas before us. Let us step into it newly, with hope of all that can be rebuilt, and with the wisdom that living through a natural disaster can bring.
Our theme for the month of January is Intention – fitting for the New Year. Now, I am no fan of New Year’s Resolutions. That is not the kind of intention I recommend (though if resolutions work for you, go forth and resolve!).
The kind of intention that arises for me now is affected by my experience of the fire. As one of the thousands who evacuated, I had to go through the process of deciding what I would take with me and what I would leave behind. Some among us actually lived that experience, having lost everything in their homes they couldn’t bring out, sometimes with very little little time to consider the question.
Yet I know the fire occasioned such reflection even for those who didn’t evacuate. At such times, the question naturally arises, What would I bring with me? Answering that question is one way to figure out what is most important to you.
- What is irreplaceable?
- What is necessary?
- What can I easily let go?
- What is truly precious to me?
And all this can lead to further reflection on how to live intentionally, thoughtfully, with awareness.
So let us enter the new year thinking intentionally about our lives – about our material possessions, about our values, about our actions. Let us be more intentional about how we move through the world as Unitarian Universalists and simply as human beings who want to be good.
Happy New Year to All
with love, Rev. Dana