Our Earthly Glimpse

“New Yorker” magazine once ran a cartoon in which a group of prison inmates are huddled in a circle on their cell block floor …

Spread before them is a map of the prison grounds and on the map is a detailed drawing of their planned escape route. One of the prisoners turns to the apparent leader of the group and says, “I wish you wouldn’t keep saying, ‘you are here.'”

Those of us who follow the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions will be taking stock of our lives this day. We’ll look back on what we have done and look ahead to doing better. We’ll look back on last year’s mistakes and resolve to correct them this year. However, in order to do this most effectively, allow me to suggest that before we look back on where we’ve been and ahead to where we’re going, before counting our faults and deciding how to deal with them, we begin by counting our blessings. And,…