The human mind needs fresh starts.  We sleep every night, not just because our body needs a rest, but also because it is healthy for our mind to get a fresh start every day.  By sleeping, we purge the events of yesterday and start with a clean slate in the morning.

The great tenets of religion include forgiveness, regeneration, salvation, and a chance to begin again fresh and new.  We all believe in, and hope for a fresh start - a chance to wipe the slate clean of today’s failures and mistakes, and begin again.  No matter how bleak today is, hope always springs eternal in the human breast as we look forward to a new day.

And that’s what this New Year is for us.  It is a chance to forget about all the bad that happened previously, and work for a better day and a brighter future.  Never has this been more important than now. 

2009 has been a tough year and this has been a difficult decade.  The decade that began with Y2K and 9/11, continued with wars around the globe, and ended with a rarely equaled economic downturn that saw many people unemployed and widespread foreclosures and hopelessness.

As we stand on the brink of 2010, my great hope for each of you is that things will begin to change in 2010.  My prayer is that each of you will experience joy, peace, love, and happiness in 2010. 

To paraphrase St. Paul, “it’s time to set aside the past and press on towards the goal.”  This is a great time for every American to forget about a year and a decade that has been full of war and ruin, and dream and work for a better future.

May hope well up inside of you, and may God bless you with peace, love, joy, and contentment in the New Year.

John Wheeler