2017 is gone. I would say “good riddance,” but there is no reason to believe 2018 will be a lot better. The world keeps on keepin’ on, for better or worse. Change doesn’t happen until everyone believes in it, accepts it, and makes it happen.

The eternal triangle of heart and arm and brain always marks human achievement.

Still, there is hope. There is nothing wrong with the world which cannot be solved by stopping for a moment and thinking. There is no thought which can’t be made into a plan with a sit-down among friends or, even better, enemies. There is no plan which can’t be made real by simply getting down to work.

Let’s all pray for the same things – and all be thankful for our gifts.

This time of year is a good one to simply do nothing. New Year is a unique holiday in that it encompasses the entire world at once. The Latin calendar has taken over the world along with European and American ways of looking at things.

So today, please stop. Sit down and think. Sit down and talk. This is not a day for doing, not yet. There will be plenty of time for that later.

May 2018 be a year of great joy and success for everyone. May it be a year when you make a new friend who challenges you in ways which are delightful. May it be a year when you achieve something you never thought might happen.

May this year expand your appreciation for the beauty of this world. May those who are in pain find comfort. May we all discover love simply walking down a street and meeting a stranger.

May the world get to know each other a little. May we all put aside the things we don’t like to understand what we do a little better. May we all learn to smile at the differences which once annoyed us and laugh at our own ability to annoy.

May we work together to achieve great things. May our technology work for us rather than replace us. May we bring all the great systems of our world together in ways that we cannot imagine right now.

May we all find peace and a good rest. May we all be refreshed in a new spirit of love, wonder, success, and brotherhood.

Here’s to 2018. It has to be better, and it will be if we want it to be.