It’s very early, 2012, and it feels that I’ve left something unsaid. Oh, yes, my wishes for the New Year, for you, your family, your friends, and for my family, my friends, and myself.

So many years ago, fueled by the idealism of youth, I protested for Peace. Tonight, much older, perhaps no wiser, I prayed for Peace. A peace that will envelope you, your neighbors, your friends, your countrymen, the world, and selfishly, yes, myself and mine.

You and I are not that different, my friend; or my imagined foe. We have ideals, goals, and dreams. In the long term, even those ideals, goals and dreams are not so unique to you, or to me. I desire, and I believe you do also, to see our children grow and thrive, to watch from our well-deserved vantage point as our grandchildren become adults, see them espouse the real good and truths in life.

I pray and I hope, and I think you do as well, for our children and our grand-children, even our great-grand-children, to not have war as the focus of their lives. Too many of our families and friends have died, given the ultimate sacrifice, for an ideal that slipped through bloody hands.

It does not have to be this way. We, you and I together, have the power within us, the ability, to loudly say NO to those who lead us to the paths of separation, destruction and devastation.

We can accept, or better reject, the people and policies that fuel acrimonious racial, political, sexual, or ethnic division. Yes, there is a need, in fact a demand, for civil discussion on these matters. As I said, a civil discussion. There are differences in what we believe, how we worship, what we eat, who we spend our lives with, what we wear. But, long-term, are these differences worth killing and dying for?

I think not. Governments and ideologies that fuel hatred of someone different are not good, for you or for I. They only serve to divide, to separate, good peoples, good families.

We share, literally, a common ground. All of us have been given this planet, and its resources, for our use. We, you and I, need to be concerned about the best use of this world; how best to feed growing populations, how we can move people from one space to another, how to best dispose of our rubbish, how to provide water and power. These are discussions, ideas, that need to be held in a common meeting place, a place that addresses the concerns of all the peoples and all the ramifications of the decisions that are made.

No one idea, no one theory, no one ideology, no one religion, will make this happen. But you and I together, working, talking, considering each other and our diverse viewpoints, WE can make this world good, we can make this world great and peaceful. Working together, we can achieve great goals, great dreams.

This is my prayer; this is my desire, for you and for I, on this New Years Day.