by Karen Hirst
‘Tis the season of innocence and purity found in a new birth, the hope of a new beginning, a time taken for spreading the word of peace and goodwill among our fellow travellers. Moved by the spirit of a heartfelt warmth we turn to one another, family, friend and strangers with nothing less than good wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.
It is in this spirit that our individual and collective health lies… we want the ‘whole’ of our community to be healthy and this is a possible achievement if we remain diligent in our efforts to stay focused on issues that impact the ‘whole’ and not let ourselves fall down the path of personal rancor.
The ‘whole’ is only as healthy and resilient as its individual members. Each of us brings different gifts, different perspectives, different levels of insight and knowledge to the table… none is more valuable than the other, all voices offer something unique that only that one specific individual can bring forth… listen deeply for the many notes it will take to complete a harmonious melody.
A preventative program for dis-ease within our community might ask us to discard the tendency of being judgmental and distrustful, focusing instead on strengths we can promote and encourage in each other, to set aside behaviours of vindictiveness and unkindness, forgo any labelling or discarding of the visionaries and heroes of our past or the creative new blood of our future… seek and find instead the hope of a creative inclusiveness, where everyone matters.
Lines drawn in the sand only increase divisions; round tables for discussion promote dialogue.
Finally, may we each put our entrenched differences into perspective … remembering the sufferings and hardships of families found in any direction we might cast a glance and with eyes on those we personally include in our daily prayers for health and well-being… we each can ask ourselves how high up on the priority list do some of our beefs really fall?
Filled with hope for our community. Wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year.
