Happy New Year

BY REV. LON LEWIS -- SPIRIT LAKE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Happy New Year! Though it is not January, as we enter the fall season it always feels to me like it's a new year, a new beginning, a fresh start.

This is the time when our kids and grandkids head back to school. And it is also time for our kindergartners to begin their school journey, which is so exciting for them and yet kind of hard for parents as they see their babies growing up so quickly.

When I think of kindergarten, I always think of the words of wisdom offered to us by Robert Fulghum in his piece, "All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Though perhaps a bit dated nowadays, the wisdom is still vibrant and alive and so meaningful to all of us as we live in a world that is so in need of wisdom and guidance:

"... Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all -- the whole world -- had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is better to hold hands and stick together."

I can't express it any better than that, especially the part about holding hands and sticking together. Happy New Year and blessings to you and your family this fall, as we walk with Jesus and stick together all the way!