Suddenly the reef ended and the drop below me was hundreds of feet to a sand bottom. I felt the loss of safety represented by the reef but kept swimming. Then, beyond the curtains of deep blue something moved, something large and dark, so large I didn't know what it was, and the next moment it was gone.

I turned and swam back toward the reef. Once I was over the coral again, fear of that unknown dark form disappeared. The reef represented the safe harbor we are always seeking, while the open water with its unknown possibilities was the invitation of life itself.” And what of the something looming, beyond the blue curtain, something large and dark?"

A safe place in which to be nourished and grow, a place to explore and develop one's potential and to grasp the vision of one's uniqueness--that is the MATRIX, the safe homes and schools that it is our duty to create for children everywhere. Come lend a hand.

A Way must be found that will be at home in the Muslim world, in China, in staunchly Catholic South America, in prudish and heavily Protestant North America, in India, and in Africa. We've built an internet using technology. It's time for an internet built of believing hearts that tolerate differences and are slow to judge the outcast. The outcast person, the outcast thought, the dark and hidden elements are what Jesus was commissioned to seek out, and he did so, magnificently.

The Ways by which rivers run to the One are many--not just 4 but 40 (in the language of the Bible, meaning "uncountable").

It doesn't have to be Christmas for malls to be too mauling, for your to-do list to leave you listless, or for jingles of constant advertising to grate your nerves to a flaked-out frazzle. In times like these--even when there's no snow to be seen--stop by for "Figgy Pudding and Other Christmas Fare."

You'll find that like Frosty's tophat, there's just enough magic here to bring a smile to a frozen face and maybe even enough to get you dancing through intersections to the consternation of the traffic cop. You might even find yourself gettin' jiggy with "Jingle Bells."