Happy New Year of HOPE ~
Here we go again!
Happy HOPEFUL New Year! As we begin 2025, we know that beyond the toasting, fireworks, and resolutions is the real threat of the destruction of the democracy that we have worked for as a nation for over 250 years. It seems to me that we have a few options. One reasonable option would be to tune out. Another would be to despair. The one I choose is to hope. As Rebecca Solnit says in her book, Hope in the Dark, (our RAD Book Club January selection!), we imagine that the next four years is going to be bleak, but we don't know. And in that space of not knowing, there is room to hope. And that hope is not some abstract optimism, it is an active verb.
This past fall we were fond of quoting Michelle Obama saying, Do Something. Now more than ever, it is time to do just that. President Jimmy Carter has left us with a legacy of service extraordinaire. The Pope has named this year of Jubilee a year of Hope. RAD is going to focus on hope this year, in all the big and small ways we can to keep it alive for ourselves and each other.
We'll be back at Four Bullets on January 16th! It's only been two months but it seems like forever since we had our last meeting of 2024. Let's join and welcome the new year with resolve to face it with hope and a willingness to do all we can, where we are, to make a difference. Click here for details and to register!
This month we honor Martin Luther King, Jr with a Day of Service. On January 20, we will be meeting and picking up trash as an act of hope in our small tribute to his memory. Every act of service is an act of hope. As Dr. King said, "We must accept must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." Join us by registering here.
We have our annual members meeting coming up January 28th. This meeting is for Patron Members, those who have donated to RAD in the past 12 months. If you have not renewed or want to become a Patron Member, please join now! We will be voting on Board Members and will get a treasurers report from 2024, as well as plans for 2025. The work we are doing is important and impactful, especially on the local level, where we have municipal and school board elections coming up this year! All who join or renew by January 15th will be included in this meeting. We welcome your input as this is YOUR club!
We have a new RAD t-shirt for 2025 as well! You can order yours for $30 or get a t-shirt and membership for $50! What a deal! T-shirts will be available at our January in-person meetings or can be shipped in January. Our t-shirt design is an homage to Jimmy Carter, who said, "We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."
~ Stronger Together ~
