Newness

Happy New Year! For some reason we write it in capitals, we name it. It needs to be special. The celebrations at midnight are shared around the world as we watch fireworks and dancing on our devices. We make resolutions, start new hobbies, set out with determination…

But is it new? The desire and longing for peace, for greater balance and harmony, for a healthier life, for friendships and renewed relations within families… these things are not new but are profoundly and consistently present within us. The turning of the year simply gives us a space in which we rouse ourselves again to hope for something more, and to choose to act for something deeper.

The newness of New Year is not really in the changing of the date, but in the reawakening of our desire to be more fully alive. May these early days of 2026 call us to a greater compassion, a more true solidarity and bring about a desire for peace that will spill over into a thirsting world.