Bishop Irja Askola The Reception of the New Year on the Senate Square, Helsinki 31 Dec. 2010

Welcome 2011,
May it be a year of trust and confidence for us!

A year when we trust ourselves,
All of us special,
Experts in our own everyday lives,
Each equipped with something that carries us forward,
Each of us necessary, in our own ways,
Each with innate human rights.

Welcome, New Year,
The year of trust and confidence,
The year when we place our trust in one another,
In those like us and in those different from us,
In those who have settled down amongst us,
Each endowed with something worth hearing,
Each with a story to tell,
Each potentially a builder of bridges of reconciliation.

Welcome, New Year,
the year of trust and confidence,
The year when we notice
God trusts us
And when we find the liberty and our individual ways
To trust God, our Creator. 

Welcome 2011,
the year of trust and confidence.