At The Turning Of The Year

Isn't it magical what a little bit of darkness can do? It gets dark this time of year so much earlier, and in the dark things happen that we don't often see in the light. We get sleepy earlier, the noises in an empty house become louder and scarier, and Deep Thoughts happen more often. Personally, I suspect this is why they changed the calender to make this time of year the New Year.

Deep Thoughts are those 3 three am thoughts, the ones you have when you're past tired and into contemplative. Maybe it's just you alone or maybe you're with one or two of your friends. You've been talking but the talk has dwindled, little by little to comfortable silences and you stare into the sky or the fire or some other light source and you think. These dark thoughts are all shaped by a light source of some kind too, streaming away in the night.

When you get right down to it, these Deep Thoughts are really pretty basic stuff. We think about God, chew over all the might-be's and wonderings. We think about Love, and our place in the giving and receiving. We think about the Past, all the stuff we might have done or maybe shouldn't have done and we think about the Future with whatever possibilities we can see. There in the dark, we contemplate Time, Space, and Matter with all the skill we can. All our best navel-gazing happens in the dark.

So here at the turn of another year I wish these things for you.

• Love of yourself- so you will never undervalue who you are or what you've accomplished.
• Love of others - so you never undervalue others either
• Clarity - so you can see the road ahead of you with open eyes
• Warmth - so you can face that road without undue stress
• and Light - Hope for your New Year and all your many years to come!

Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year to you all!