As I write for the final time in 2007, I am thinking a bit about past and future. One significant thing about my past is that for years I have collected “quotes.” I guess I have for years been moved by words. A well-turned phrase can provoke my mind and enlarge my heart. My first notebook with collected quotes has, on its cover, “Dave Bard; Grade 12; Homeroom 103.” The first quote in the notebook is:

“The behavior of the fully human is always unpredictable because it is always free.”
John Powell.

I am now in my third notebook of collected quotes. The most recent is:

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”
Irenaeus, quoted in Gerald May, Dark Night of the Soul

Not long ago I read again these words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Where will the call of discipleship lead those who follow it? What decisions and painful separations will it entail? We must take this question to him who alone knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ, who bids us follow him, knows where the path will lead. But we know it will be a path full of mercy beyond measure. Discipleship is joy. Discipleship

For the past few months, this short verse from the Buddhist Scripture, The Dhammapada has found its way to the center of my being. “Hatred never ceases by hatred; by love alone is it healed. This is the ancient and eternal law.”

And tonight I read a brief Christian Scripture that I have never seen quoted by itself on a poster or bumper sticker or plaque. Maybe it should be . “Let all that you do be done in love.” I Corinthians 16:14

As I look to the future, at least to the new year, I hope my life is filled with and emanates peace, joy and love. I hope that I might be more fully alive. May your life in the new year be filled with and emanate peace, joy and love, and may you be more fully alive. May our world be marked more by peace and joy and love.

Chapter Two
I don’t often see movies in the theater, but the holiday season often affords me the opportunity to do so. Last night my family and I want to see the movie Juno. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is funny and sweet and feels true-to-life. While I enjoy movies with plots that move rapidly, that have mystery and/or action (I watched The Bourne Ultimatum on video recently), my favorite movies are those which create characters that I can care about, that move me – movies that open my heart a little wider. Juno was that kind of movie. Roger Ebert said it was one of the best movies of 2007. Because I’ve not seen all that many of the movies of 2007, I could not say that. I would say it is well worth seeing.

Juno is a bright, witty and articulate sixteen year-old girl who gets pregnant after her first experience of being “sexually active.” After a visit to an abortion clinic she decides to give birth to the baby and give it up for adoption. She finds an ad for a couple looking for a child, a nice suburban couple. Few movies would handle all of this without trying to send some kind of message about abortion, adoption, or sexual activity among teenagers. Few movies could have you laughing in the midst of all this without making the humor obvious or cheap. While the movie could be used in a discussion group to talk about “issues,” the film itself leaves abstract issues behind to tell the story of these people’s lives, and the humor is humane and generous and flows from the characters. See it. It is on my list to add to my video library when it is released on dvd.

With Faith and With Feathers,

David