And do we ever need a new beginning! Any sense of a common humanity and community seems to be disappearing. The old systems that are no longer relevant refuse to give way to allow new ideas to flourish. Issues are too often solved by force and violence, by top-down solutions based on power rather than diplomacy. Others who see the world differently, are too easily demonized and dismissed.
But we all know that the very core of what makes us a viable life force is our humanity and our need to work cooperatively to find solutions that do not pit us against other human beings, or against nature and the very planet that provides for our existence.
And technology does not hold any long-term solutions. Technology can be helpful as an adjunct to our analysis and problems solving, but it is not a substitute for our core humanity. Virtual reality and artificial intelligence can mimic, and it can often use logic faster than we can, but it will never take the place of direct human contact in finding lasting and sustainable solutions to our human issues.
In the final analysis, the solutions we need to sustain our human existence will ultimately be provided by the human spirit, by the human heart and soul.
We have just experienced the connection that is renewed by the spirit of the winter solstice, of Christmas and the holiday season when so many of us reconnect with family, friends and loved ones to be reminded of the true power and irreplaceable value of human connection. Now, while that intimacy is still fresh, is the time to review where we, and the world, find ourselves and begin to decide what old thoughts, beliefs and systems have outlived their relevance and usefulness, and to consider what new options and outlooks might be better in dealing with the human realities we all face.
In a way it is about finding ways to rise above the tumult of the present conflicts to be able to find a new perspective, above the fray, to begin to see options that exist outside of the old systems and the old paradigms, to look afresh at the problem from this new perspective so new approaches and solutions can emerge.
As the new year begins and the light of the sun begins to reemerge for us in these northern climes, let us also rise to see how to make new and fresh beginnings.
Let's make this into a most happy New Year for we humans, and our planet.
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