Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Year in Review

I've decided against a Christmas letter this year.

The form letter, a staple in Christmases past,
stumped me this year.
There's too much to describe.
A typed page seems inadequate.

How do you capture the important things?
Grandmother died, went to the Grand Canyon, brother moved to other side of globe, I turned 40...
it all sounds trite in summation.

How do I describe the fact
that I fall in love so quickly these days,
with my hospice patients,
my coworkers,
the children in my life,
my friends at church,
the cats and dogs I encounter,
the birds on my birdfeeder?

How do I describe
the accumulated memory
of the people I've met
and the places I've seen
and the deep impact
of the smallest and most profound
of daily experiences?

Maybe, instead of a quick form letter,
I'll take the time to write letters
to the people in my address book
and in my heart.
It will probably take the better part of the year,
but a handwritten letter
is such a strange treasure
these electronic days.

Handwritten letters...
and ongoing blog entries.

And the knowledge that the most important
experiences and feelings and thoughts and learnings
will never be publically reported,
only lived.



Thursday, November 09, 2006

Political Hopes

There was a time
in years gone by
when Democrats and Republicans
negotiated.
They discussed,
argued,
and voted,
with votes not going
rigidly along party lines.

I have missed having a division
of political power
between the White House
and the legislature.

Could it be
that Americans might,
for a year or two,
think about issues,
look for common ground,
move beyond the bluster of party
and think about the good of the country?

Perhaps too much to hope for...
a return of statesmen and women
instead of politicians.

No perfect government,
either in the past
or in the future...
but I think we can do better.