Reflection and Renewal 2005-2006

As the clocks of the world tick away the final hours of the year 2005 one can look back and relive moments of such pain, such tremedous breathe taking scenes of Mother Natures destruction, Tsunami, Hurricane, Flood, Fires, Storms, Lost Lives, War, Famine, Disease and the death of Heroes of Worldy stature...indeed what a year it was. When the year began we had such high hopes, we had traveled far to the land that belongs to our people, Israel...we were overjoyed, then overwhelmed and surprised by so much of what we witnessed there, and in the end we were simply overcome with the frutility of even trying to stay where we were not really wanted, and where we would surely live in desperate poverty for the rest of our lives and so we joined so many thousands of others who had to start over this year with near nothing! We have been blessed beyond measure by family, friends, buisness assosiates and strangers during this time of returning to Long Beach! The year has been a million years long in our minds, and our hearts still long for life to be Peaceful!
Like so many who saw this year change their lives completely we are still recovering from the shock of it all, and we have deep empathy for those who survived the storms of this year, and we pray for them as we do for ourselves that 2006 will be a year when the world sees real change toward Peace and Genuine understanding, when those who suffered and lost so much can heal from the scars that such a year inflicts.
When, the last moments of this year tick away...and the last strick of the clock signales the begining of 2006 I am certain that there will be many people who will feel a twinge of fear, some moment of trepidation at what may lay ahead of us, just out of sight as we round the corner, and there will be those who celebrate with not a thought of all that has been, wrapped up safe and snug in the blanket of pleasures that this modern world of ours provides, there will be those who won't notice that the year has changed, those whose suffering is still fresh or who have succumbed to the depths of dispair that such events can cause, right alongside them there may be people who never think of anything or anyone but themselves. What if for just a moment in time we were all able to see through each others eyes, and experience through each others minds the year that has nearly passed. What if we could all join together and agree that for the length of time it takes the new year to creep across the time zones of the world we would all hold only thoughts of Peace! What a change world we might come into if by some mystical magical encantation we could really see Humanity as One, and Mother Nature as deserving of our care as our own bodies. What if we could heal Gaia from all the pollutants that now inhibit her very life, and cure disease, poverty and hatred with a prayer! Well, maybe the best we can hope to accomplish is making Peace in our own corner of the world...but then we could at least try to start the first moments of the New Year in contemplation of the what if's...and maybe just that would be enough to give us some of the Peace that was intended for us.
We wish you all, dear friends and family the Best of New Years, May you be Blessed with Peace, Hope and Faith and most of all may you enter into a time of Love not just of yourself and your own but of Humanity in all it's varied faces!