It is the first evening of the New Year, with some snow on the ground of southern Wisconsin and a bit nippy out in the cold air.  We have to believe that behind the dark night, there is LIGHT. We have to continue to hope and believe that love and compassion will win.  We have to believe we can build bridges instead of walls…we have to believe that deep inside each person there is good…and that GOOD will prevail. We owe it to all those who have gone before us– those who struggled through the conflicts and injustices of their time. We owe it to them to keep believing in one another.  We have to believe in the higher truth and not give in to frustration or despair. We have to fight for the rights of all to live and breathe on Mother Earth — and forget the lines of nations -those imaginary lines that actually do not exist. We have to breathe life into our children and hope despite all the savagery that blurs the reality of what it means to be truly human. We have to respect nature and the plants and animals we share the Earth with and do all that we can as individuals and collectively to save this beautiful planet. We have to replace our sadness with joy and truly believe that change is possible — never give up!

The sun is brilliantly rising somewhere on our planet…and in the night sky the stars are there to remind us…that as long as we seek the LIGHT we will find it and we will save each other as we walk on our tender Mother Earth.

This is my New Year’s wish for all in 2020:  keep HOPE alive!