Looking Forward, Having Learned from our Recent Past

In ancient Roman times, JANUS was the god of beginnings, transitions, time, duality, and endings. As a god of motion and the overseer of temporal change, Janus looked after passages; Romans believed Janus could initiate actions of his choosing and presided over all beginnings, including the beginning and ending of conflict. Janus was also thought to represent the middle ground between barbarism and civilization. As such, it would be appropriate to consider Janus as a representation of January 2026. Today we look forward with hope to the return of a civilized nation, a nation that grants all U.S. citizens, residents, and visitors from all countries the same rights, equal respect, and universal access to safe living conditions. At the same time, we look back on the ugliness of 2025 with disgust. 



If we do not act, our recent past may turn out to be the beginning of America’s fall into barbarism. We cannot allow the U.S. to fail as a democracy, an ethical civilization based on equity and concern for one another. So, like Janus, let us oversee our passage into the New Year with conscious consideration of how to move beyond all the errors, enmity, and evil we have witnessed in 2025 and continue to see as we move into 2026. There will be opposing forces, and we may have to fight for the future we wish to see, but unless we put up a mighty fight, our future could be lost.