May your New Year be a happy one, filled with love and success.

May it bring new discoveries, wonder and joy.

Should you encounter sorrow and pain, whether personally or in the lives of people for whom you care,

may you receive or give compassion and hope through the gift of loving presence.

Should your path not be easy, may it make you sturdy to travel any path —

not by taking away hardship,

but by taking fear from your heart;

not by granting unbroken sunshine, but by keeping your face bright despite the clouds;

not by making life always pleasant,

but by making you as beautifully genuine as time-tested diamonds and as authentically compassionate as the most healing balm.

May the new year end as hopefully as it begins: holding the hand of the One who walks before, beside, and with us in the fullness of life.

– Elizabeth Watson Martin, VP Faith & Spirituality Integration