A New Hope (tm)

Though each season has about it elements that make it special (even winter), I've long been quite fond of spring. It's a time of renewal, a time of hope and good things to come. This is especially true this year with my newfound status of singleness, which has taken some adjustment, but in the final analysis its not a bad thing, really. One chapter of my life has come to an end and I'm now in the opening paragraph of the next filled with excitement, the unknown, and possibilities innumerable.

I suppose my understanding of Buddhist philosophy (as humble as it may be) involving living in the here and the now and the respective roles of the past, present, and future, have helped me adjust to the aforementioned status change. This is such an elegant, yet common-sense approach to a full, happy life, particularly so when combined with a proper detatched view of the things and people around you. One can care about these things, but once it passes the point of attachment, that's where the trouble begins.

In other news, on Wednesday I met with one of the other project coordinators to discuss this summer's humanitarian mission to Sri Lanka. This is going to be a wonderful outreach opportunity if all goes as planned. The centerpiece of the project will be the construction of an orphange for the 200-250 kids in the province orphaned by last year's tsunami. Thanks to a generous donation we've already acquired the land, so its just a matter now of raising the necessary funds for construction and the implemention of peripheral public health components. I suspect that most of this will come through grants. We're also setting up a permanent college scholarship fund for those kids who otherwise would not have an opportunity to pursue higher education. Every project component, no matter how diverse, revolves around the orphans, those kids whose lives changed so dramatically in a matter of a few hours. We want to give them a safe home, a healthy life, and the hope for a bright future.

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*Since I included the trademark symbol (tm) in the title of this post I do hope Mr. Lucas won't come after me for copyright infringement.