By reading the scriptures I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure a cooler blue the trees a deeper green. The whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music under my feet.

Over the past few years the road to confrontation has shown its consequences: loss of innocent lives destruction and fear. Most costly however was the loss of hope. The most precious gift that you can present to your peoples over the coming weeks is renewed hope born out of tangible progress on the ground.

When we learn from experience the scars of sin can lead us to restoration and a renewed intimacy with God.

I couldn't have foreseen all the good things that have followed my mother's death. The renewed energy the surprising sweetness of grief. The tenderness I feel for strangers on walkers. The deeper love I have for my siblings and friends. The desire to play the mandolin. The gift of a visitation.

Man is born in a day and he dies in a day and the thing is easily over but to have a sick heart for three-fourths of one's lifetime is simply to have death renewed every morning and life at that price is not worth living.

People are patronizing the theatres with renewed enthusiasm - there is an entire picnic-like attitude when families go out to see movies which is a very good sign. They want to see larger-than-life characters on the big screen and not just watch movies on television or on DVDs.

What is wrong with the Iranians in addition to the nuclear bomb? This is the only country on Earth in the 21st century that has renewed imperialistic ambitions. They really want to become the hegemon of the Middle East in an age that gave up imperialism.