It is a difficult thing to balance the needs and concerns of so many individuals and communities in a state like California. Following his inauguration, President George Herbert Walker Bush explained his philosophy by saying that he would take as his guide “the hope of a saint: in crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity.”
We turn to our Creator to guide us and sustain us. May we never lose our sense of hope in a better tomorrow, nor let our faith in the importance of what we do dim. In difficult times may we come together, united, of a singular mind in finding solutions to what ails us. But in that unity may there always be room for a diversity of opinions and perspectives to be expressed and heard. And may we always treat each other with a generosity of spirit, giving each other the benefit of the doubt and treating each other with respect. May this be God’s will. Amen.