Late March, late in the evening, and there are snowflakes in the air. Colorado is nice that way, keeping us on our toes with frequent changes. It’s a theme I have taken up before. In fact it was about this time last year. What has changed since then? I think we have been here before.

There are flurries, too, of anxiety in the air. Have we been here before? Those who like our new president are feeling that he is being unfairly criticized, denigrated, hounded, and attacked. Those who don’t like him are feeling angry at every move he makes, and talking about impeachment, profligacy, arrogance — even treason. If I go back eight years and use exactly the same words, with only a different name standing as “our new president,” it is remarkable how the feelings were every bit as vehement, but held by the opposite parties. More than remarkable. The same. We’ve been here before. We are always here.

At my church many people have been drawn in to a project of folding origami “peace cranes.” Paper cranes are a symbol of peace and hope. Over a period of two months, a total of 33,215 of the paper birds have been folded and strung together in a massive display. The number represents the number of gun deaths last year in the United States. Doing the origami has been almost a meditative act for some, and a lively social interaction for others. How many people need to turn their thoughts to peace before it makes a difference? Again, I think we have had this thought before. It was about this time last year. Maybe you have read it before. I am thinking of it again, realizing that the world I live in is the world of my choosing. It was the story of a little bird called a coalmouse on a snowy night. Not much of a story, really Nothing More Than Nothing…