Man is a curious creature. He is capable of committing acts of
criminality, even depravity, and rationalizing it under the heading
of necessity, defense of country or culture or any of a number of
excuses. Yet, he can perform feats of great sacrifice, of nobility
even, when the need arises.
Man is a curious creature. He is capable of committing acts of criminality, even depravity, and rationalizing it under the heading of necessity, defense of country or culture or any of a number of excuses.
Yet, he can perform feats of great sacrifice, of nobility even, when the need arises.
We hear of it all the time through the media and many of us have known those whose valor in the face of great danger has won the admiration of their fellow beings.
Most of us lead lives which are marked by routine – arising at a certain time in the morning, going to our places of employment to earn our living and spending time with family and friends in more or less customary pursuits.
But as each old year dies, we still look forward to the next with a hope that it will be the one in which we attain a goal that has hitherto eluded us. Perhaps this will be the year in which we will manage to reduce successfully and keep our weight to what we want it to be. It could be that 2003 will see us erasing a dangerous habit. Why should the year about to be born not be the one in which we will finally learn to play a musical instrument or read a book whose very size has daunted us?
Resolutions are important. They reflect our yearnings to be better and the very act of making one lifts our spirits into a more rarefied atmosphere than we generally know. It is a trait that only Man possesses and it sets him off from the beasts.
Striving for improvement means raising our aspirations only a notch or so higher than those most frequently made to allow us to see what we could be and how we could improve the lot of many whose lives touch ours.
Resolved: That we will no longer condone malice by listening to its practitioners without challenging it or simply walking away from it. If those who spout bigotry or make derogatory jokes about “those people,” whoever those people may be, realize that others disdain their venom they will become more careful about spewing it.
Resolved: That we will start to believe with our hearts that each of us is his brother’s keeper. If an elderly woman on a fixed income must choose between a warm room or enough to eat or a child faces winter with holes in his shoes, we are the poorer for it. Let politicians or other experts explain the reasons for it; the old woman remains hungry and the child cold.
Resolved: That each of us will do something in the coming year and years to alleviate the suffering in our community. Ignore the self-satisfied misanthropes who blithely rant about not solving problems by throwing money at them. Your few dollars to any organized charity will help, even if it does not immediately solve the problems.
Resolved: That we all will be kinder to people who need kindness, even if their material needs are being met. Your neighbor might be the parent of a child stricken in body or mind and the uncertain future of the child casts a shadow over both. Your offer to do their shopping once or twice a week could be the only relief in their bleakness.
Resolved: That we will volunteer and encourage others to volunteer for any of dozens of local enterprises that seek to make a positive difference for the community. It could be bagging groceries for Community Pantry or teaching the illiterate to read or driving Hospice patients to clinics for vital treatment.
In short, let each of us become nearer the person we wanted to be when we still dreamed of achieving a state of grace.
