With a name like 2020, why didn’t we see it coming?
It’s as if the year itself was designed by the emergency broadcast system: “This is a test; this is only a test.”
Looking back, what seems obvious is that an assessment of our personal, national, and global visual acuity was long overdue.
We have been tested by uncertainty, fear, and loss as well as by the need to confront with courage racial, political and economic crises stemming from entrenched, indefensible disparities. And yet we are not finished. This most essential of exams is far from over. This is no time to lay down our pencils.
I hope and pray that these blessed holidays find you test-free and stress-free, hopeful and happy. However, even though the mere concept of New Year’s resolutions seems laughable in the wake of 2020, I also hope and pray that we will pick up newly-sharpened #2 lead pencils, bow our heads over the problems that need to be solved, and dig in for the difficult work ahead.
Happy holidays. And, next year, may we be together. I miss being with my people.
