It’s Monday the 20th, as I put this together, and many of our Atlanta clients and friends are gearing up for a very different kind of holiday week.
I’m very aware that while the holidays are a time of joy for many, they are just as often a time of pain for a significant portion of my contacts as well. That’s probably especially true this year.
Missing loved ones, loneliness, and pain can sometimes be the most prominent decorations of this season, and if that’s the case for you, know that you are not alone and that you are loved and appreciated.
Not only by us here at Team Bill, but undoubtedly by more people than you could possibly imagine. THAT is the bottom-line, real-world truth, whether you believe it or not right now.
And by the way, we are still meeting with Atlanta clients to help them with year-end issues, so feel free to use this: calendly.com/sbs_jbill/discovery
(I can’t guarantee our availability, as we have a LOT of client work to handle these few days before year-end … but we’ll do our best!)
And, while I often write about important business, financial, and books-related matters, I thought I’d share with you my annual prayer for the holidays. It’s worth printing and clipping near your monitor, so you can remember it, even beyond this week. I can’t take credit for its authorship, and I don’t honestly remember where I got it.
But it’s good.
Jonathan Bill’s “Help Us to Remember” Holiday Prayer
“There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met.” – William Butler Yeats
“God, help us to remember that the jerk who cut us off in Atlanta traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry, and spend a few precious moments with her children.
“Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.
“Remind us, Lord, that the scary-looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares …
“Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slowly through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.
“Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy, and love.
Amen.”
Warmly,
Jonathan Bill
770-745-4283 (local), 800-381-2989 (toll free)
SBS Accounting & Advisors