Just as nature submits herself in quiet acquiescence to the seasons, so it befits the human being to bow to the circumstances ordained over him. For is it not grace, over and over, that whenever we come to stand at the end of a relationship or a chapter of our lives, we stand at the same moment before the possibility of a new beginning. What looks to the world like failure or the end offers God the possibility of starting something fresh from the very beginning. But then one must be willing to turn one's back on the past and lay oneself open to the endless possibilities of grace. Even if markers of sorrow stand like red flags on the map of our lives, our road still runs onward and our territory is still being enlarged. Sometimes we must be hemmed in, physically and materially, so that our inward borders can be widened.

Whatever the case, a song is no less beautiful for having ended sooner. We are all searching for a song without end, but over that none of us has any say. The secret of true life-joy is not how long our song was, but how pure our note. To stay true to the note of your own life's tune, especially when circumstances try to pull you off-key, is the greatest challenge. The simple-hearted sometimes manage it more easily than the showy. And that this has nothing to do with gifts like wealth, IQ or talent — we have all long since noticed.

The secret of how to live in step with the rhythm of your own unique composition, your needs and your circumstances, is an art not taught in books or in schools. You learn it from life itself, and your examinations you sometimes sit in tears on the battlefield of your own heart. If you fail, or if your note goes sour, it reaches everyone in your inner circle at once, and they all struggle to keep their own tune.

2005 has spread its sheet music open before us. For each of us there is a song — a new beginning. A short song does not mean it is any less beautiful. Sometimes God wants us, in spite of circumstances and people, to learn how to hold our song true and how to be grateful under every condition. And we should always hold this in mind too: that our own behaviour or attitude may well have been the reason someone else lost their note. And then there is one last piece of realism — remember that nothing goes on forever. Not the good times, and not the bad.

The high point is when you come to the end of your song and a choir of voices sings your final refrain with you in harmony. We were not made to sing our life-song a cappella. Accompaniment makes it easier to keep in tune, just as love binds people together so that their strength does not crumble. May 2005 be a harvest year for everyone who feels that 2004 was a year of sowing.

Groete Amanda Kreitzer