Some days it feels like our December Damiano released a year ago, and other days it feels like it was just an hour back. Wherever you find yourself as we move through this Lenten season, we hope you’re finding moments of peace, rest, and steadiness in the midst of a busy and sometimes unsettling time.

This edition is full of rich reflections and meaningful ways to stay connected with the Federation community. As I have been preparing it, I have been thinking about the simple practices that help us stay grounded in a world that often feels frayed.

One of those practices for me is a morning walk. I go without headphones or distractions, simply noticing the air, the birds singing, the trees, and the rhythm of the ground rising to meet my feet as my feet fall to meet the earth. There is something humbling about remembering that I am held by the earth itself. This small act of noticing has become a practice of peace for me, and I choose to believe it makes a difference in the world, even if the difference is subtle and unseen.

That feels especially important now, when so much around us feels strained and beyond our control. Yet even in this climate, small acts of attention and courage ripple outward. They become forms of resistance that help hold the world together.

I was moved by the story of nineteen monks walking across the country through winter cold, carrying a simple message that peace begins in each of us. Their pilgrimage echoes the stories we hold dear, Francis crossing battle lines to meet the Sultan, and Francis crossing the boundary of fear to meet the wolf of Gubbio. Peace has always traveled on foot. Each step can carry intention if we pay attention to it.

Sometimes peace appears in the smallest places: a dog crunching an apple, letting someone go ahead of you in the checkout line, or appreciating the humanity of someone who rubs you the wrong way. These small acts matter. They remind us that goodness is still alive in the world and in us.

May we continue to notice it.
May we nourish it.
And may we place our steps on this earth with care.

Peace and all good,
Brady Young
Manager of Member Engagement & Communications