Greetings! It is August and time for many of us to think about starting a new year at church or school. Getting back to our routines can fill us with hope for the future, or fear of the approaching unknown. Bob Sitze, in it's not too late: a field guide to hope, a newly-published book from the Alban Institute, says it this way: "When you live at the edges, you allow both hope and despair to reside in your mind. Instead of dodging despair, you see this situation as an opportunity to grow stronger, bolder, wiser. In edge-living, you participate in the abundance God gives, risking failure or death." 

May the coming year make you strong, bold, and wise, as you bring hope and face despair in all the places you make music with God's people.

Lorraine Brugh