Alexander Jewish Family Service Friends –

Many thanks to Board Member Dee Dee Dochen for the inspiration for today’s message.

As we stand here at the threshold of a new year there is great excitement and also great apprehension about what the new year will bring. In the short time the new year has been with us the signals are still mixed – we have a vaccine for COVID and yet the infection rate is climbing still. We have an inauguration scheduled for our newly elected officials yet there is turmoil there as well. Many of the challenges facing us a community, country and society are large and well beyond our control to fix so what can we do – we can plant flowers. Each of us has the opportunity to sow seeds of hope, inspiration, gratitude and peace. We can each, through our actions, cultivate those things that we want to see more of in the world so that we can enjoy them today and they will exist for those who will follow us.

I am reminded of a wonderful quote from Confucius who teaches:

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“If your plan is for one year plant rice.
If your plan is for ten years plant trees.
If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.”

As we take the first few steps into the new year we will need to seek a balance between the time we invest in things that will pay off in the near future and the time and energy we want to invest in building a better future for ourselves – and perhaps equally important – those that will follow us.

It is important to remember that even though the season we are in has been a challenging one – it is only a season and seasons change. No one season - or stage of life - lasts forever. In Bereishit (Genesis) 8: 21 – 22 we read God’s promise to Noah after the flood:

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“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

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The changing of the calendar year that comes with the start of a new year is a reminder that life has seasons and cycles of change built into it and with each new season comes opportunity to reap the rewards of the what we planted in the previous season and to sow the seeds of success for the future.

Not every season will be our favorite but be careful you don’t wish away opportunities to find joy and meaning. When we are constantly waiting for the future – we miss the moments that are within our reach right now.

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Take care,

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Carl E. Josehart, MSW (he/him/his)

Chief Operating Officer

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