A New Year-A new beginning
Another year has passed and a New Year begun. This is traditionally the time of year when we pause to take stock of our lives, to mourn the passing of the old and to celebrate the arrival of the new. Some people I know will celebrate the passing of the old this year after surviving a rather challenging and difficult 2007. It does seem as though the previous year was filled with many challenges and lessons that made us all take a hard and long look at the progress we have made in this lifetime and to assess the direction in which we are headed.
In a planetary sphere, Earth and its inhabitants have experienced the gamut of Mother nature’s repertoire, from earthquakes and mudslides to cyclones and hurricanes, tsunamis and floods to droughts and firestorms. It seems that the planet is going through a cleansing cycle and attempting to recover the equilibrium that the humans who live in developed countries have seen fit to disturb in the never ending search for “more, bigger, and better” material things and the processes of getting them.
Please don’t get me wrong. I am certainly not advocating turning one’s back of the conveniences of modern living and the infinitely easier ways of living daily life that western standards have allowed us to become accustomed to enjoying. I am perfectly happy with my washing machine, refrigerator, and indoor plumbing with running water and do not want to have to live without them. Yes, I am spoiled, I admit it. But I feel that each one of us can try to walk a little more softly upon the earth in our passage through life. Recycle, reuse before tossing something away, really think about what the garbage-men haul out to the landfill everyday and find as many alternative uses for used goods as we can.
Now is a good time to look closely at our lives n many way ways and reassess our needs. How blessed we are to live in such abundance! If you are like me, you may have lots of things in your home that you don’t need, haven’t used in a while, and have stored away because you have little space in which to put it. I suggest we all have a “cleaning out” sale in which all the “stuff” that we loved when we got it but now no longer love so much is offered for sale to others who may need or want it.
Think of the clothes outgrown or out of fashion, the books that gather dust on the shelves, the decorative knick-knacks that clutter up the drawers, closets, and flat surfaces everywhere. I propose a January “Heave-Ho” day. Gather up all those not so precious possessions and have a yard sale or donate to the worthy charity of your choice. It will do good for yourself and others at the same time.
While we are cleaning out the closets and drawers of material goods that no longer serve us, let’s do the same for our personal beings. Take a long hard look at your beliefs and prejudices, preferences, and habits. As wide legged paisley hip-hugger pants are out of place in 2008’s wardrobe, so are some of the habits and beliefs of past days. If you still believe that children should be seen and not heard, perhaps you should spend some time really listening to the children of today. They are, for the most part, far more intelligent and savvy in the way the world works than many of my generation were into their twenties. These young people are coming in to the planet wise beyond their years with the accumulated knowledge of lifetimes past at their fingertips. They want to be heard and want to help solve the problems of the world that their parents’ and grandparents’ generations created. Many of them have chosen to be born in this time and place in order to accomplish just that.
This new generation will be the one to cure cancer, discover the causes and resolutions o obesity, major diseases like MS and Parkinson’s and invent and create remarkable and miraculous medicines, products, and methods that we have not yet dreamed. So pay close attention to the hopes and dreams of the little ones in your life. Listen to the “prattle” that yesterday you may have thought of as foolishness. Give them a chance to change the world, to make a better place on the planet for them, and us, to live.
Give them the chance to live without hatred, anger, resentment, or prejudice. Children know from birth that all humans are created equal and have the right to live and grow together. Watch the children in play and see how size, color, race, and religion matter not to them. They know, as God’s children, that all human beings are the same under the skin. The soul has no color or gender, merely the white light that is the part of God we all carry within us.
Let us strive to make our hearts as pure as a young child’s, loving all, allowing all men and women to live their lives as they see fit, without undue interference or criticism. Let us understand in our hearts that all men and women are our brothers and sisters and deserve respect, gratitude, and love. Let us extend a hand to those in need of help.
We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. The elderly, the infirm, the disabled and disadvantaged all have need of our compassion and help. Make it your goal to reach out to those less fortunate than yourself with a smile and a response that includes them in your life. Everyone can share a smile and a kind word with another. It is the least we can do for another human being. We are, after all, on the same journey through life. Let us truly be one another’s’ companions along that journey.
May your New Year be happy, healthy, and prosperous, and may it bring you your dearest wish. Happy New Year!
