Nationally, it was a year of uncertainties, as well. Politicians began scrambling in earnest for a chance at the White House. Meanwhile, the war in Iraq seemed to reach a turning point when President Bush's troop surge began to control violence and establish order. This week's assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, however, was a troubling development in what looks to be an endless struggle against terrorism.

In short, this was a year of unpredictable events and uncertainty, which probably could be used to describe virtually any year. Years are artificial measuring rods of time, but careful observers will note transitions as they gradually occur. The Wasatch Front, with its new downtown Salt Lake City renovation project, its plans for an expanded rail system and its unprecedented growth, is beginning to shed its image as a sleepy mid-size city in the Rocky Mountains. That transition may take several more years, but it is fascinating to watch and gives great reason for optimism.

And 2007 also had its triumphal moments. When University of Utah professor Mario Capecchi was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine, it was a watershed for the university and the state. The fact that his work involves genetic research will likely make it of great importance to the future of medicine in the 21st century.

Capecchi's work ought to stand as a metaphor for the state as it forges into an unknown future. Whether they are conscious of it or not, researchers require a great deal of faith and optimism to carry on their work. They wouldn't begin the study unless they felt certain they could discover knew keys to unlock mysteries. In his personal life, Capecchi had to overcome his own legion of uncertainties and unpredictable disasters, including a Nazi and fascist intrusion that defined a good deal of his childhood in Italy, leaving him homeless and alone for a time.

It is good to be prepared. It is better to be resilient, with an attitude that all challenges can be transcended. That is a good way to view the past and a great way to approach the future.