Editorial Columns Archive
A new way of living
Don West,
01-04-2009
Happy New Year! Welcome to 2009 and whatever it may bring us. Certainly, it will bring us a new commander-in-chief. I pray that he will lead this nation back to a country that centers itself on God, charity, understanding and peace. I speak of charity, not in the materialistic sense, but rather on the charity in our hearts to love and care for each other, setting aside jealousy, greed, and malcontent – charity that refrains from pre-judgment and charity that loves without condition.
Sometimes, when I am away from the maddening crowd, in the evening hours when I can walk out on the deck, my eyes wander to the beautiful starlit night and usually I notice an airplane flying overhead. I realize that not all are passenger jets zooming from one destination to another; however, many are. We seem to be a major route where many planes fly overhead – few that we notice because they are usually seven miles above us, flying at 700 or 800 miles per hour – but I sometimes wonder who may be sitting on that plane and what their thoughts might be at the time they pass over Southwest Louisiana.
There could be one of our fighting men or women traveling from the war zones, home to loved ones – maybe even the dad of a child he hasn’t met. There may be someone flying to what was once called home to bury a parent or to attend a wedding of an old friend. There may be a young child who has never flown before, who is traveling to meet one or the other parent whose marriage has fallen apart. There may be a business executive traveling to an important meeting, even one where he or she may face dismissal due to economic times. There might be a nurse or doctor making their way to perform some important surgery or to teach others how to perform a new procedure. Maybe someone is flying to a job overseas or a there’s a missionary going to some poor country to do the work God has propelled them to do. There could be a college student heading home for a holiday or to attend a new university. The pilot or co-pilot may be flying the plane while their attention is diverted, concerned with a sick child, a failing marriage or some financial difficulty.
I sometimes wonder if those flying so far above us think about those that they pass over in their big silver bird. Do they think about the single mom or dad trying to prepare dinner, help with homework, tend to the laundry and pay the bills after a full day’s work outside the home? Do they think about the lonely soul who sits by the bed of an ailing parent or child, waiting for death? Do they think about the gathering of friends and family for the holidays or that some may have no one with which to celebrate the holidays? Do they notice the truck driver diligently pulling his load to another destination so that we can have food, clothing, shelter or that special gift that we ordered? Do they notice the cook or server who spends hours preparing and serving meals for customers on Christmas Eve while others are sharing time with family? Do they think about the police, firefighters and medical personnel who are on duty? Do they think about the production worker on an offshore platform or the operator in a chemical plant? Do they notice the people gathering at the church for an evening service or think about the call to a parent notifying them that their child has been in an accident?
More than likely, they are just like most of us. We rarely concern ourselves with that which others may be doing or thinking, for we are caught up in the daily stresses of our own lives. Maybe in 2009, we can learn to give up a little bit of our self-centeredness; maybe we can find time to focus on others, to say a little prayer for those who need our prayers, to reach out to someone who has been neglected.
Maybe we can find a way to help one another a little more, denying ourselves of one little self-indulgence, maybe by just having a kind thought about someone who has made us angry, or making a call to someone who may enjoy hearing from us. Let’s not call it a New Year’s Resolution; lets call it a new way of living.
Resolutions can fail before the last fireworks burns out, but a change of heart burns as an eternal light for all to see.
