Happy New Year !

We should probably be wishing each other a Hopeful, rather than a Happy New Year. I don't run into a lot of happy people most days and I SURE didn't notice many in the stores over the holidays. Why do we do that to each other and the world every year? Putting an end to the nauseating orgy of holiday consumerism would be a great start to a New Year, not to mention a New Humanity.

Despite the gloomy tone of my last post (December 19), my wife and I were blessed by spending New Year's Eve with a group of people who seem to be happier than most - it was really good. Many of these folks gather on a regular basis and could be considered as 'Community', I'm pretty sure there's a clue to that happiness in there somewhere.

We dined together, read and listened together, sang together and entered into many and varied conversations together. There were people with significant disabilities and people with none in the group. There were people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and a wide range of ages. The core of the group were people of the Bahá’í Faith although my wife and I and a number of others were not. Still, we were all quickly able to find common ground to discuss and differences to celebrate.

Yes, we had some religious conversations as well as some non-religious conversations and I was even fortunate enough to find a few people who wanted to discuss the material on my website (below). There was a spot during the reading and singing (Devotions) part of the evening set aside for those who wished to read, sing or speak original material or to quote others on the evening's theme of World Peace so I had written a prayer, a kind of bridge for all who are working for Peace and Justice to use to visit each other and our common Creator:

A Prayer to Equip Oueselves for the Work of Bringing
Peace and Justice on Earth

Creator of this wondrous and infinite universe,
We ask for the will to cast off our weaknesses,
The strength to stand up against our oppressors,
. . . . . and most importantly,
The wisdom to use the tools we have been given.

Concerning the task of bringing Peace and Justice to humanity,
We do not ask for forgiveness of our transgressions,
Nor for redemption from our errors,
. . . . . and finally,
We do not ask for relief from the hard work required.

We believe that if we accept the challenges,
We make our plans diligently,
We choose our leaders wisely,
. . . . . and work vigorously,
Then we can achieve the New Humanity for which we were created.

—   —   —   —   —

. . . . . and I was even able to share one of my favorite quotations, one that has a very interesting attibution:

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace" - Jimi Hendrix, 1942 - 1970


H A V E   A   H A P P Y   A N D   A   H O P E F U L   2 0 1 2 !


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MY WEBSITE   —   ANewHumanity.CA