Everyday, a Unicorn in the Backyard

Peace and Goodwill Toward All

Painting by Raymond Logan, Martin Luther King Jr., 2021

Hello friends,  

A quick note to say thank you for a great year on Substack. I didn’t get serious about using the platform until this year—January 20th to be exact. You all immediately rewarded some writing consistency with a 100 new subscribers. Thank you. As of today we are closing in on a community of 500.

Whether the number is 500 or 5000 gains its importance simply because of the uniqueness of this platform. It means that more and more people, good people, are committed to civility in a world that too often feels like it's auditioning for a dystopian streaming show. We are doing something different together and it matters.

Substack is a place where people actually read and listen to each other, support each other, and they're humble and generative. It's like finding a unicorn in your backyard, every single day.

I hope goodness and peace visit you often during the holiday break. And that you emerge rested and ready for a hopeful 2024. Our tradition is immersion in the Christ celebration—the Christ mass—what we know as Christmas. And we have our reasons. There are many ways to articulate this. But today, with war manifesting on the ground and in our hearts, I yield to a sermon from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King from Dec. 24, 1967:

"This Christmas season finds us a rather bewildered human race. We have neither peace within nor peace without. Everywhere paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt them by night. Our world is sick with war; everywhere we turn we see its ominous possibilities. And yet, my friends, the Christmas hope for peace and goodwill toward all men can no longer be dismissed as a kind of pious dream of some utopian. If we don’t have goodwill toward men in this world, we will destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own instruments and our own power." 

Until we meet again in the new year, peace and goodwill toward all.

Painting available for purchase from Mr. Logan HERE.