A great big Happy New Year to all. It always seems a little strange to me to think of our lives in blocks of years. If you think about it, January 1st is just the day after December 31st, but we do place significance on these milestones, I guess, as a way to see where we have been, and to enjoy, even for a brief time, the hope that the new year will bring good things our way. So far, I am waiting; the new year brought news that my daughter lost her job due to the economy and this past Sunday, we were attending a funeral. I think I will back up my new year to February 1st and see if things start out better from there. In any event, I continue to experience many blessings in my life, so I am not complaining. One of the highlights so far for me this new year is seeing the movie, Invictus and if you have not seen it, I highly recommend it! It is about a chapter in the life of Nelson Mandala after his 27 year imprisonment in South Africa when he first became the new South African president after Apartheid. It is also the story of his wisdom in supporting the all white (except one) national rugby team, revered by the whites and hated by the blacks in the first steps toward creating a multi-racial country. In support of this team, Mandala manages to bring together whites and blacks in the common interest of supporting and cheering for this team all the way to the final championship. This film is an inspiration, as is Nelson Mandala at age 91, a prophet in our midst, I think. Invictus is the name of the poem that Nelson Mandala read to himself every day during his imprisonment and from which he took great courage. He kept his spirit alive with the words from this poem, the last two lines which say, "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." Like Victor Frankel, in the concentration camps, Nelson Mandala did not let his captors, capture his soul. This movie will inspire you, guaranteed.