In his Christmas message[1] Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen cited some important issues that bear profound consideration heading into the New Year:
“Dr Jensen spoke of Jesus being born into a human family, showing us that ‘human nurturing depends on trusting each other and taking responsibility for each other.’
“The Archbishop said ‘Without profound commitment to each other, we live less than a human life.’”
The family is a key to it all. Dr Jensen said, “The challenge is to our whole community to turn back to God and then act like a family.”
Family values are a key to societal health and ultimately to life on earth. It is by these values, more than anything else, that we express our humanness. The compassion, consideration and concern we show the family members we love is the very same approach needed beyond our family, into the world.
Perhaps the most poignant issue heading into the New Year surrounds our relationships, and not just those with which we’re closely connected to, but others in our community too.
We must harmonise within our society, on the roads, in the shops, in our schools and workplaces. And it starts with me, and you.
Our relationships, and specifically the quality of them, point to a premium of life that we either enjoy or loath; a continuum that breathes at one end but is dead at the other.
Let’s ‘breathe’ in the New Year. People are first. Relationships come first.
Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
[1] The whole transcript of the message is available at: http://www.sydneyanglicans.net/senior_clergy/archbishop_jensen/articles/christmas_2008
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