A New Year on the Horizon

Egrets nesting at St. Augustine Alligator Farm.

The image of being on a journey together toward a future full of hope is our 2022-2023 Chapter of Affairs and Elections logo for our Congregation. As we begin the New Year of 2023 and scan the horizon, none of us can accurately predict what the next 12 months will hold.

Last year the world experienced many droughts, severe heat waves, wildfires, the surge of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, hurricanes, and floods. Russia invaded the Ukraine last February. Queen Elizabeth II died in England in September.

Locally, a new bishop, the Most Reverend Erik Pohlmeier, was ordained and installed as the new bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine in July.

Osprey in Motherhouse campus pine tree.

Futurists understand the term “horizon scanning” as “the early detection and assessment of emerging technologies or threats for mainly policy makers in a domain of choice.” (Wikipedia) Difficulties or sufferings are an inevitable part of the future for all of us. Robert Wicks, in The Simple Care of a Hopeful Heart, emphasizes that “…it is worth our while to embrace the following two-fold approach to join with others who have not merely endured suffering but grown from crises in unimaginable ways. He says we need to (1),“…face directly rather than denying , seeking to go around, or glossing over unwanted aspects of a serious negative event, and (2), to be open to a radically different sense of meaning and living that would not have been possible had the horrible situation not occurred in the first place” (p. 102).

In the New Year ahead of us let us focus on the journey itself, and on daily faithfulness to our ideals and beliefs, rather than on success in the eyes of the world. Let us journey together to a future full of hope. Happy New Year!

Spoonbill at St. Augustine Alligator Farm.