Here we are in a new calendar year. In the last two weeks of December 2020, I’ve found myself studious, thoughtful, and reflective, watching the past as well as the present. Now, as I look to the future, I am hopeful, but cautiously so, knowing that situations that have evolved over decades cannot be resolved overnight, with the ticking of a clock to midnight or the flipping of a calendar page.

I look forward to the positive changes that may begin in 2021, but I remind myself that we all–myself included–have a lot of work to put into shaping and creating the future we want. As we encounter slow speeds and setbacks, even as we are tempted to force our way through boldly, we need to remember to occasionally step back and take a good, clear look at the large tapestry we are all part of, to find the places where it will be most beneficial for our own thread to stay in the background as part of the scenery with so many others’, and when it’s appropriate for our thread to stand out boldly, for just a moment, adding a flash that catches the eye and draws attention to the larger picture around us. And, of course, we must also do our best to recognize when it is our time to be a dominant, dazzling thread standing out in the tapestry foreground for longer.

But above all, we must remember that a tapestry is made of many, many threads and that the most beautiful tapestries are intricate creations of interacting, interwoven threads.

We are all in this together. We are all important in the warp and weft of this exquisite tapestry of life, and we all have our parts to play.

As we move forward into this new year, I pray that I keep my sense of perspective so I can see not only the path of my own life but also the ways it is meant to interact with others in the Tapestry of Life. And I pray the same for you.

May we all make our tapestry brighter and ever more beautiful in 2021.