It’s nearly time to consign 2025 to the dustbin of history. And for the occasion, from the pen of Austrian poet and novelist Rene Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke — better and more simply known as Rainer Maria Rilke — I offer you these words of hope and inspiration for the coming year:

“And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been, full of work that has never been done, full of tasks, claims, and demands; and let us see that we learn to take it without letting fall too much of what it has to bestow upon those who demand of it necessary, serious, and great things.”

So let’s celebrate the passing of the old, and cheer the beginning of what awaits us . . . with renewed hope, determination, courage, and the spirit of kindness and brotherhood in our hearts.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/31/25