If you're reading this, you made it over the threshold. Welcome to a brand-new, never-been-used year. It can end up being a lot like the last one, which I'm sure would not bother most folks (we tend to like what we know), but it also has the potential to be very, very different than last year. The change could be beneficial, of course, but it could also be a catastrophe. Though not completely up to us individually, what comes of what comes does depend a lot on what each of us does, and how each of us reacts.
The transition between years is inevitably a time of reflection. It certainly doesn't hurt to take inventory of where one is, what seems like it's worthwhile holding onto and what could use a bit of an overhaul. This applies not only to our physical possessions and well-being, it applies to our thoughts and beliefs as well. How we see the world, how we react to it, and what we decide to say and do all depends inexorably on what these thoughts and beliefs are. Some people think they don't really have any, but everyone does and they determine everything one perceives, knows and deduces. That's just how our consciousness works, much to the dismay of the materialists. But that's their problem, not mine.
If I were to sum up 2013 in a single word, which one would it be? After some serious reflection, I've decided on "broken". Yes, 2013 was the year when it became clear just how much in our world -- and by this I mean the whole world, the earth and everyone and everything on it -- is broken. Our economy is broken: too many people without work, too few people with way too much, and at it's limits of growth (which is an essential feature of the system, but which is recognizably impossible); our political systems are broken: too many lobbyists and private interests, too little democracy, too much oppression and repression (especially for so-called "democracies"); our diplomatic systems are broken: too much aggression, too much war and too little willingness to talk or negotiate; our belief systems are broken: too many fundamentalists, too many people who think they know what "God" wants, too few who are willing to live what they believe; our education systems are broken: too much influence from corporations, too much testing, too little learning and nurturing of critical faculties; and our social systems are broken: too many poor, too many neglected, too little willingness to help those who need it most. The environment, as well, may be beyond saving.
Some things cannot be fixed when they are broken. We would do better to devote our time, energy, attention, and efforts to things we can do something about: ourselves and those around us. While we're at it, we should never hesitate to speak truth to power, to draw attention to injustice, to drag the behind-the-scene manipulators out into the open. We have the obligation to act. Not acting and not speaking give tacit assent to those doing wrong and causing harm.
It's a new year, a renewed opportunity to make a difference, to help get things back on track. Who's ready to lend and hand and get to work?
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