"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." pianist Arthur Rubinstein
Anyone who ever heard Rubinstein (left) play knows that Love flowed through his fingers and danced across the keyboard of any piano he played. He was a master not primarily because of technique, but because of his completely open and passionate heart.
Among the biggest mistakes I've made in my life have involved expecting life (and other people) to love me even if I didn't express love myself. Love has the remarkable quality of instantly enriching the life of the lover. When we hold back Love or, worse, try to replace Love's power with our own, we open the door to our own despair. Since Love comes through us, not from us, we can only experience it by being open.
As this year ends, it's easy to reflect on many things that have gone wrong, both personally and, of course, beyond. It has been a hard year in so many ways for so many people.
Caregivers who may have been plagued by setbacks this past year – a home foreclosure, a broken family, a terminal illness – may find it especially hard to love life. Yet, successful caregiving depends on our ability and our courage to find the pathway back into the light.
No day is free of shadows. Even the darkest day holds glimmers.
We pay lots of attention to the final seconds of December 31 and the first seconds of January 1 – the end of a year, and the start of another. The dawn of January 1 will mark not only a new year but, like every morning, it will herald a new day and a new opportunity for us to decide whether we will choose Love, not fear.
May this year bring you, as a caregiver, the wisdom to love life, and, in so doing, experience the grace of God's Love.
– Rev. Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
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