It's minus nine on our thermometer. The clouds at the horizon are purple, the liturgical color of Lent--a season for spiritual and communal transformation.

Here is a new day, never seen before and never to be repeated.

May we give thanks for the work of the Spirit within and among us. May we think of one another with warm compassion and know that we are, as Paulo Freire used to say, "making the world a place where it is easier to love."