Thinking About the Year

"What lies behind us
and what lies before us
are tiny matters
compared to what
lieswithin us."
---Ralph Waldo Emerson

The tradition of preparing for the New Year includes reviewing the past year and considering a direction for the coming year. Although many years ago my New Year’s resolution was to never make a New Year’s resolution again and, by the way, that is one resolution I have kept, I still think review and assessment are appropriate.

As I looked back over this year, some of the things I have looked at are the joys and sorrows, the hopes and dreams, as well as some of the problems related to being ill and also some of the benefits. Once I made the effort to collect all this data it seemed to me that I should do something with it. I chose to outline a cluster of grapes with the words I collected in my assessment, turning them into a sketch.

Grapes are among my favorite things. I enjoy them in decoration. I love seeing the rows of grapes in the spring and fall and making grape juice in our steamer. I am drawn to the spiritual concept of John 15, of God being the vine and we as spiritual seekers being grafted to the vine and gaining our nourishment and strength from that connection. Grapes represent this connection which is very important to me.

In my year-end sketch the benefits are the purple grapes; joys are the golden grapes; sorrows and problems are the green and bronze leaves. They work together to make a whole.

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
-----Mother Teresa