In the picture on the front of this card, my cousin is probably not responding to his first birthday cake as those who prepared it had hoped. Hard to know if he is just perplexed or if he is a bit fearful – perhaps ready to cry (or maybe laugh).

As we each face the unfamiliar in life in its many forms (and one’s first birthday cake showing up on one’s high chair tray certainly qualifies as an adventure into the unknown), it is often hard to know just how to respond. And, indeed, there is good reason to be hesitant about approaching something unknown – in my cousin’s case, something with a flame on top of it. Not only can the flame be a significant hazard but, as I have heard many times over the years, too much birthday cake (and sweets) can also be significant dangers to one’s health (the subtler dangers).

Yet, whether we are new to living or have many years of experience, life and the world in which we find ourselves do regularly present us with the unfamiliar and the unexpected. When that happens, often our first responses are not as wise, as certain and/or as brave as we might wish.

In the context of the world today, those unexpected – sometimes disconcerting – things often do indeed challenge our ability to respond appropriately. How should one respond when individuals and groups seem to more regularly choose hatred, division, violence and destruction – and some others just remain silent as such choices are made by those around them? When we are confronted with an unfamiliar level of “us first” that puts others beyond our community at risk, what should our response be? How should we respond to larger forces in the world when we may feel as small and as helpless as my cousin likely felt in his high chair trying to make sense of a world getting bigger, more complex and more challenging with each passing day?

We may think there is more we can and should do to speak for those whose voices are silenced, to express and act to sustain our core values, to push back when the world around us seems to be moving toward the edge of a cliff. Indeed, we can and should seek new ways – small and large – that allow humankind to come together to shape a future that expresses our abiding creative and caring potential – to shape a future that does not repeat the darker patterns that have recurred far too often in our shared history. And yet, it is often hard to respond as we think we should.

It is also hard to take actions that seem right if those actions could possibly put us and/or those individuals, organizations and communities about which we care most at some risk. The risks may be as small as the risk of rocking of the boat a little or so large that they may require admitting to ourselves that to change the world around us – to respond as we believe we should – we have to risk changing our own familiar world in unpredictable ways. The appropriate response to the unexpected may require us to work our way through our mixed and doubtful first reactions to find the personal courage to stand for our most essential values – to stand with and for others at risk – be they close by or a half a world away.

I find myself reminded of two things when I reflect on such things as the new year approaches. One is that it seems at the heart of most spiritual belief structures worldwide are core values that are life affirming – rooted in doing good with and for others, loving and forgiving others, and having enough faith and hope to make those beliefs a reality in daily life. But, so often what humankind believes at its best is not reflected in the actions taken by individuals on any given day (there are few news reports of mass outbreaks of love and caring – though I remain foolish enough to wonder why not). And, I am also reminded of a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that never quite leaves me: “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

On that note, here’s to joining together to make the new year full of the unexpected – to make it a year filled with unexpected kindness, caring, and startling moments of personal courage that come as a surprise, even to those acting with such bravery in daily life in 2018 and beyond.

Welcome to the New Year – perhaps together we can make it the first year of moving down the path to a future more in keeping with our aspirations and our values – a future that has far more roses than thorns – a future in which we can celebrate the beauty and wonder of life’s roses together.