Another year, and yet again, we find time to be

As sand. Slipping through our fingertips, leaving

Shards of glass. Yet in these shards of memory—

We grasp them tight, though our hands may bleed—

We find reflections of the Light

Holding us through all the frights;

The catalyst for our growth—

We’re not the same as last.

Another year has passed.

Oh, Bittersweet Retrospection, on this Christmas Eve,

Reveal to us the good and bad in our wandering.

Let AI’s rise and High-School lives renew adaptability.

Let Birthdays and Friendships and Celebrations bring joy, and life, and peace.

Let each event in reviewing sight

Renew the bond of family might,

A catalyst for our growth—

Let old strength hold us fast.

Another year has passed.

And through the chart of weary life, remember God’s decree.

In levees dried or rains of life, through gifts of life unveiling—

God has been with us. Bittersweet Retrospection turns to reverie.

Does our time depart? Have we the year lost? When God has been with us?

Through total grace and ‘chance’ events—

Through fellowship, and through our friends—

Such catalysts for our growth—

Praise the LORD, Immanuel*, for

Another year has passed.

—Shalom Israel Kommu

*(Lit. God With Us)