Some friends shared their hopes :

“Living in openness to wonder is a conscious albeit discreet choice, one I hope I can make in the coming year. This choice comes along every day. In the subtlest of voices it says to me that I have the choice of seeing the beauty deep down in things or allowing my gaze to linger on the surface.

And it makes me think: what wonderment would grow in my heart if I saw every person I met as a gift? And if I could see things in this way, then what would stop my life being lived, not with expectancy, but with gratitude.” L.C.

“The financial world or the political world always seem to grab the headlines as commentators grapple with the enormous shifts that are redefining them. Less headline-grabbing is the decreasing adherence to the world we call religion. But here is where my hope for 2015 lies. Perhaps the Lord is inviting us to accept a deep and difficult truth and take a fresh look at what we’ve been dealt. As Jonathon Sachs puts it: all religions are at their best when they are a minority voice, when they have influence but not power, when they make space for people whose views are different from their own, when they offer others their stories and songs, hospitality and food, seeking nothing in return. Here’s to a more united 2015.” M.O.K.

“My hope is that less people will be in poverty by the end of 2015. I also hope I’ll go to the right Secondary School and that I’ll fit in when I start in September.” D.O.B

“Having spent the last days of 2014 in hospital accompanying a close relative getting blood transfusions, I’ve realised the incredible importance of blood. My hope for 2015 is for more blood donors, maybe including myself. A related hope is for good health for everyone or the grace to bear the hardship of sickness in ourselves and others with a smile and to know how sacred this suffering is.” S.G.

We wish all our readers a very happy new year, one filled with hope.