Dear Saints in Santa Fe and other far-off places: Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who often shared meals around a table. Potluck:  a communal meal to which people bring food to share. Merriam-Webster helped me with this definition, but they needn’t bother.  Since my earliest memories I have been part of such occasions, always at church.  I had a chance to pick what I wanted under no watchful eyes, go back as often as the food lasted, and usually ended up consuming sloppy joes and a vast array of casseroles.

Dear Saints in Santa Fe and other far-off places: Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who continually calls us to love one another. “We have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.” Remember this part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech spoken sixty years ago this August, and 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation?

Dear Saints in Santa Fe and other far-off places: Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who taught “blessed are the peacemakers.” I want you to join me in the work of peacemaking in 2023.  Get together, talk it over, form a group, be part of movement, do something small, consider something big, make a difference, if not for the world, then for you.  And me.  And our community.  Will you? Now if you haven’t yet scrolled to something else then allow me to make your deliberation a bit easier.  I have already listed your objections (but you can still come up with your own!).