I said to the one who stood at the Gate of the Year,
Give me a light that I might go safely out into the darkness.
The gatekeeper replied,
Go out into the darkness and put your hand
into the hand of God.
That shall be more to you than a light and safer than a known way.
A great tenderness for myself and the world opens inside me, and I know I belong to this time, to these people, to this earth, and to something that is both within and larger than all of it, something that sustains and holds us all. I do not want to be anywhere else. I am filled with commitment...and compassion.