This morning I said my prayers with hope in my heart. How else then to start a new year in which so many new things will be ahead for us? One simply has to insist on hope.

I prayed to God for good health for my wife who has had a terribly difficult year with surgery and radiation treatment that have exhausted her and left us frightened. I asked for love and good health for my daughter who, like many of us, has been through a very hard year because of the terrible economy. I thought with love of two old, dear friends who have been courageously fighting disease that riddles their bodies. I asked for some peace for our troubled, wonderful world and for people to show more love to one another.

These are all big hopes, but I also recognized once again this morning that to make the most of our short lives, we need to insist on hope because that will give us energy to cope with all the challenging things that will come our way in the days ahead. Maybe not all the hopes will be realized, but you have to begin somewhere by believing that things can get better. Without hope, everything is lost.

What about you? As your greet the new year what are the hopes in your own heart? What do you pray for? What do you seek?
Will you share them with us?

Dear reader,
In writing a Christmas greeting to a good friend, a sentence suddenly came into my head when I wished her a happy holiday. It was: In the new year ahead may you find answers to your questions.

I’m still not sure why I wrote this, but for me, I guess it made some sense, in that there are always so many questions buzzing around in my head, more questions than answers. Answers are not so easy to find, and asking the right questions can also be hard at times. So, often, there are so many things going on in my head, it’s a mush.

So I throw this out to you: What are the most important questions in your own life? Are yours really so different from mine, or do we share some of the same concerns?
Here are some of my questions:
When will we all allow love to rise more easily in our hearts?
How do we find peace?
How can we make the world better?
How can I become less selfish?
How can I be more open to life and to change?
What do I need to do to grow?
How can I use whatever talents I have to make the world a little better?
How can I help the people whom I love become happier in their lives?

In raising the questions and becoming aware of them, you may find you are taking the first step to getting answers. If you find some answers along the way, pleasure share them with us — as well as your questions, too.

In the meantime, as I did with my good friend, I wish you, too, a happy holiday and rich new year.

Sincerely,
Bill Zimmerman

We’re coming to the end of the year, a time when we review where we’ve been and think about where we’re headed on our life journey.
To help you, why not create a timeline of your life so far, from the beginning to now. Along the line jot down the most important moments in your life, the times you want to remember, the people who crossed your paths, the memories that are significant, the events that changed you.
The timeline will help you see who you are.
Enjoy!

This is the time of year when my wife lost both her mother and father, so it is a very difficult time for her. She remembers their spirit, particularly that of her father who seemed to be filled with a great zest of life. She wonders aloud to me, ”What happens to their spirit and energy when they die? Where does it go,” she wants to know. Their energy can’t just disappear, she insists.

Such hard questions. What are your own thoughts about the spirit of the people who are forced to leave us by death? Do their spirits still linger with us? Are their spirits in us, in our memories of them, or do their spirits become part of the great universe, part of some kind of universal life or energy force?
I’d like to think their spirits are still with us — how much I miss my own parents and brother. But I cannot be certain.
What do you think about all this?

Tell Me About How You Are Challenging Yourself

Tell me about a goal you set for yourself and what you did or are doing to accomplish your goal. What is the task you have set for yourself and why did you do this? What do you hope to accomplish?
How hard is the task? What progress have you made? How much more work do you have to do?
Once you accomplish your goal, how will you feel? How will your life be changed?
And, what will be the next goal you set for yourself?

Tell Me About An Interesting or Special Person You Know

Each of us knows someone who is very interesting and exciting to be around.
This person may be very smart, or well read, or very knowledgeable about a subject.
This person may have an interesting job or hobby or tells you stories that capture your imagination. That person may have travelled to many different places.
Perhaps you would like to be like this person. Please describe him or her and tell us what makes that person so special and makes him stand out from other people.

Make believe that your world went silent for a day.
What would you do with the peace and quiet?

Make believe that you could write a poem. What are the things you’d want to say?

Make believe that someone said ”Go ahead, do what your heart desires.”
Just what would your heart desire?

What are the things that you would like to see go on forever and ever?

Please share with us.