Best wishes for a pleasant 2023

This being New Year's Eve, with several hours to go here on the west coast before 2022 departs, I want to share a few thoughts about how this year has gone on this blog, and what I look forward to in 2023.

First, I'm thankful for those who visit the Church of the Churchless, especially the regular visitors. Without people reading what I write, this blog would be a private diary, not a public square. 

Those who leave comments on my blog posts earn a special thank you. 

Just as those posts appeal to some, but not to others, I agree with some comments, but not others. No matter. The tagline of this blog is Preaching the gospel of spiritual independence. Independently minded people will agree about some things and disagree about other things.

What's important is the conversation, the dialogue, the exchange of ideas.

Even if someone reads a post on this blog and doesn't comment on it, that's still a valuable communication if what I wrote stimulates them to think more deeply about some aspect of our shared humanity.

After writing 3,310 posts for this blog over a bit more than 18 years, occasionally I feel that there isn't a whole lot left for me to say. This may be true for some subjects, especially since I no longer have as strong a desire to bash religion and praise atheism as I did previously.

But there's always more to say about living life as pleasantly and wisely as possible, no matter if we're a fervent religious believer or a committed devotee of godlessness. 

More binds us than divides us. I'm sure about that. Yes, religion and politics can be divisive, since it is natural to feel that our way is the best way. (Of course, we should remember that others feel the same about their own way.)

However, when it comes to family, love, health, misfortune, accomplishments, tragedy, and all the other ups and downs that come with being a human, almost everybody struggles with the same sorts of problems and enjoys the same sorts of pleasures.

So I wish for you in 2023 what I wish for myself and my family/friends. Happiness. Safety. Health. Peace of mind. However, it's virtually impossible to enjoy these things without their opposites popping in for an unwelcome visit.

But hopefully we all will have more of the positive side of life next year and less of the negative side. If this blog can play a small role in that overall positivity, I'll be pleased. Not that I won't be critical of people and things that strike me as deserving of criticism. 

I just want us to feel like we're part of a community of people seeking truth and wellbeing in a wide variety of ways, supporting each other in our individual pursuit of the good life.

Comments

[Tej from Bangkok]

Happy New Year to you and your dears!🥳🌲💐😊

[Ron E.]

Nicely expressed Brian. Best wishes for the New year everyone.

[Laura]

I read every post but very rarely comment

[Kranvir]

Happy new year Brian.
Keep being brave and exposing bent babas , like gurinder singh dhillon and his sicko family who have profited hugely from laundered money while many of his satsangis are suffering, and starving. They blindly give their last penies to a fraudulent RSSB path as they are sold a false promise of everlasting peace in the afterlife.

[Goswami]

The same guy who deletes my post of yesterday -- where I simply questioned the motivation to study the mind -- writes this Hallmark card of goopy platitudes about "community" and "the exchange of ideas." Not that it really bothers me that my posts are deleted, since hardly anyone reads this blog.

Nothing you've ever written has impressed me in the slightest.

I suppose it's something that this blog exists, but I must also admit that I don't like you Brian, never have. You've always struck me as pompous and insincere, and your ideas of what makes for good journalism are certainly not mine.

[Brian Hines]

Goswami, I didn’t delete your comment. You jumped to that conclusion. One of your comments went into the Typepad spam folder, where I just noticed it and published it. Next time, email me if you think a comment has been deleted. Often, or usually, it’s because I haven’t checked the spam folder for a while. I try to do this every day, but yesterday I was busy with other things, like watching football, and forgot.