Here we are on the last day of the year with Covid-19 infections skyrocketing, people in long lines to get tested, concerns about the Omicron variant, and an underlying anxiety, if not fear, of what might come next. There are still signs calling us to unmask children and some people still refuse to be vaccinated.
At the Casa office, we are wiping down desks following every client meeting and checking temps and having people use sanitizer before they enter the shielded reception area. Now just about two years into this uncertain time, we wonder not when will it end, but will it end.
Specific towns are now requiring mask mandates for indoors. It seems like we’re back into last winter but without the death rate as high as it was in 2020. How do we look ahead to a New Year with hope? We do have vaccines and medical guidance providing a measure of safety, but we need a wider public acceptance of both. The pandemic may not end but can be mitigated if we look beyond our individual selves and care for each other as the community of the world.
Prayer for the Day
On this last day of the year, we look to you, O God,
For you have been our Guide throughout the year;
Realizing that we must still rely on your guidance and support,
We wonder what the new year will hold in store for us.
Refresh our spirits and open to us new visions of what we can be,
Your people living and caring for each other in community.
In the name of the One who calls us all,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The first step of getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.
- J.P. Morgan, American industrialist (1837-1913)
The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.
- Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist (1927-2006)
The Lord exists forever; your word is firmly fixed in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You have established the earth, and it stands fast.
By your appointment they stand today, for all things are your servants.
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my misery.
I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.
Psalm 119: 89-93