There was a time when I had much loftier goals. I looked at the challenges and questions life confronted me with, and was confident I could find the right answers for myself and those who came to me for help. As the years passed, I found myself settling for the possibility that I could solve some of the dilemmas I faced, at least the major ones. At this juncture of my life, I find myself wanting to give in to the temptation of settling on making the questions and answers simply come out even, like the process of assembling a bicycle with no extra parts left over at the end.

However, I simply cannot give up on the hope that all of us can do better.  I have come to realize that life is not simply a set of problems to be solved, but rather a sacred mystery to be entered into with humility and faith. Humility is what helps me to accept the fact that there are some questions in life, especially those dealing with pain and sickness and suffering, to which there are no simple answers. At the same time, faith enables me to find the strength to go on in the face of trials and tribulations, and those questions which do not lend themselves to easy or facile solutions.

Rather, I am given the confidence that God’s enduring love is ever present in my life and in yours. It is this faith which helps to bring us wisdom and strength and peace, especially in those times when the questions and the answers do not come out even.

For Sally, for me, and for all of us, this is a time of a new year and a new hope. It is a time in which I rest more easily, reassured and given hope by the message of an angel, delivered centuries ago to a young woman from Nazareth: “Nothing is impossible with God.”

God bless and Happy New Year!