At the Milan Cathedral there are three inscriptions over the respective doorways.  Over the right-hand door there is this motto: “All that pleases is but for a moment.”  Over the left-hand door the words are: “All that troubles is but for a moment.”  But over the central door there is a simple sentence: “Nothing is important that which is eternal.”   There are so many things that come up in the course of the year.  What will 2020 hold?  More floods, hurricanes, tornados, mass shootings, crippling accidents, or devasting diseases.  What troubles are ahead of us?  We can also ask, what pleasures are ahead of us in the new year?  New jobs, children, grandchildren, wealth, our favorite sports team wins it all, or we get the recognition we think we deserve.  What pleasures are ahead of us this year?

While I was getting my “Christmas haircut,” my barber, Lou, shared with me an incident that had happened a few day before. He was cutting the hair of a little boy while the boy’s father was waiting for him.  The boy was fascinated by the barbershop’s Christmas tree, which adorned with lights and decorations.  He turned to his father and asked, “Daddy, why can’t we have a Christmas tree in our house?”