Hello and welcome to my sermon entitled "The good, the bad and the
cycles". I will start with a little song, an old feline love song called
"Pawprints in the snow".

Cold blankets of white have covered the fields
Choking the life that sprouted below
The forest looks strange, the branches are bleak
I look at our paw prints in the snow

Soon the early warmth of spring
Will start it's work, and soon we'll know
This frosty world will melt away
And takes our paw prints in the snow

Our steps side by side as we walked hand in hand
In times we went fast, in times we went slow,
But soon they may part, or one of them ends
They only were paw prints in the snow

Carve your steps deep as you walk your way
They will stay, even if you have to go
Make the world see that you have been here
Show them your paw prints in the snow

This was an old feline traditional about winter. This winter is nearly
over, but the the last winter was a very special one for all of us. It
saw one of the greatest battles this world has witnessed, and a time of
great losses. The old heroes who saved our all lives with their skills
and sacrifices have disappeared, but Gahlen opened their doors for new
citizens - us.

Usually, we feel more comfortable when our life is in balance. Most of
us like the things to stay as they are, every change gives us a little
pain. However, balance does not mean stagnation. We are not isolated.
The world is in motion, and we have to move with it, if we like it or
not. We are a part of Ateraan, and balance can only be gained in
relation to the rest of the world.

A small disturbance from the outside can knock our whole world down.
People we love might die or leave us, we may loose our health or
material values. And the worst thing is that it seems we can not do
anything about it.

The only way out is to see ourselves as part of the whole system, as
part of Ateraan. Change is the only constant in our world, and the
everlasting cycles are the only stable balance. Our judgement on things
that happen to us is mostly guided by the focus on ourselves - if we
manage to extend this focus, many things will appear in a different
light.

Most people divide the things that happen to them into "good" and "bad"
things. Let's have a closer look at this. An incident might be bad to us
in the moment it happens, but looking back at the same event one year
later might make it look totally different. Missing a ship might safe
your life if it sinks in a storm, but you can't see it in the moment you
miss it. And even the worst misfortune may change the direction of your
life in a way you later may revalue as positive.

And even if you can't see any good in an incident at all - the worst
blows of fate will change your view on the world. They may show you
what's really important in your life, give you a new direction, they may
even make you stronger. You probably never will see those events as
"good", but you for sure will see them as "important" from a more
distant perspective.

Regarding the current events, we are now witnessing a time of renewal,
most the old guilds have re-invented themselves and are much more
creative and active than ever before. And this shows in a perfect way
what the cycles of Ateraan mean - it's not only about continuity, it's
about live and death, about renewal and rebirth. Spring will follow the
winter. But if this is true for the way how we look on us, shouldn't it
be true for how we look on others, too?

Just like the incidents in our lives, we tend to divide other people in
categories of good and bad. Sometimes by moral criteria, like good and
evil, sometimes by by social status, like weak and strong, useful and
not useful. One category we consider inferior to the other. And as we of
course want to belong to the superior one, it means that we have also we
have to take a choice which of those categories we will consider most
important - if we are a rich thief, we won't care so much about good or
evil but more about rich or poor. And if we are a poor thief we may
invent other categories to feel superior, maybe because we are an elf
instead of a lykos for example.

This example shows the uselessness of this concept. Considering the
everlasting cycles of Ateraan, nobody really can tell who is good and
bad, who is weak or strong, who is more valuable than the other at the
end of the day. We neither know how a person will develop in the future,
nor do we know how their deeds or talents will impact Ateraan in the
long run. A wise man can even learn from a fool. As every life goes in
cycles, it is not wise to judge a person only for their momentary
status.

A community which enforces just one sort of talent weakens itself. A
society which contains only fighters, only merchants, or only druids
will fail. Our true strength is to appreciate the diversity of people,
and turn it into power.

We should be aware that we are part of the balance and cycles of
Ateraan. We should be aware that we will stand up again if we fall, and
take strength from this knowledge to do our duty. And we should be aware
that as a community, our true strength and stability is based on unity,
not dominance. The cycles will renew everything sooner or later, and
only Ateraan will last forever.