I live pretty far north of the equator, in Spokane, Washington. In the winter, the sun sits low on the horizon well after dawn. This morning, I looked out the window down the street and rays of sunshine burst out of pink and gold stratified clouds that were sitting on the horizon. The light shone onto planes of glimmering and sparkling flat snowflakes falling out of the trees making air glitter as a soft wind moved them down from pine needles in giant Ponderosas. It was breathtaking and beautiful. You could see the shine all the way down the street from my eyes to the sun. It was great to see that beauty. Beauty in the natural world surrounds us. It can take you by surprise. It can comfort you. It comforts me.

Soon after that I was looking out another window. It was only about 12 degrees outside and a large sparrow with feathers fluffed up to hold warm air next to the sparrow’s skin, was sitting at the top of the dogwood tree. His bold black head faced the sun coming to shine on him, and he sang a song of sun-greeting. He filled me with a sense of hope for the day.

Whatever foolishness has dogged us in 2021, there’s more to being alive than fools and their foolishness. There’s the hope of each new day. We can try to make our lives good by doing good works and appreciating what’s good already. What good work will you do in the new year, 2022?

If you want to learn about neoliberalism, modern liberalism and classical liberalism and how they differ, buy a copy of Political Catsup with Economy Fries available at Amazon.com.