Happy New Year to you all! Well, let me make a small adjustment to that. A Meaningful New Year to you all!  A friend of mine once pointed out that having a “happy” life probably isn’t a great goal. Life is just too complex and uncertain for us to pin our hopes on something as ephemeral as “happy”. But, he said, having a meaningful life was a different matter. Life can be filled with meaning and purpose and still embrace the whole range of human experience, including the bright colors of happiness and the darker hues of suffering and sadness.

Seeking out and working at making such a life requires what I’m calling “seeing”. It means that we have to learn how to look at, attend to and make meaning of the events of both our own lives and those around us. And for most of us, that means having an evolving understanding. It means we can’t just figure things out once and for all, and then work with that paradigm for the rest of our lives. And changing our understanding, changing our way of seeing, can be pretty tough going.

This Sunday morning (at Pantages – we’re just not quite sure if it’ll be on the main floor or lower level), we’ll explore the story of someone that thought they had it all figured out…until life threw them a curve ball and their way of seeing was altered. It’s a good news story, particularly if we’re inclined to be skeptical.

I’m looking forward to being with all of you.

Peace,

Tim Plett