TO OUR READERS and FRIENDS:

The New Year is the traditional season of hope. Hope for a lasting peace. Hope for a speedy reunion with loved ones far distant. Hope for happiness and hope for health.

Each of us has a stake in this harvest of hope. How we reap will depend on how we cultivate the opportunities that lie ahead.

Just as a merchant takes stock at the beginning of a New Year and closes his books on the Old, so we at this season ought to take mental inventory and do some spiritual bookkeeping. The past is good only as its achievements strengthen us for the tasks of the future--on...