As the cascading waves of 2023 begin to ebb and flow gently (and at times rapidly and thunderously) throughout the world, to different degrees in all our lives, now is a fortuitous time to accurately appraise our lives, and assess the varying fortunes of the world in which we find ourselves currently living.
For many of us, albeit perhaps weary and drained from world and local events, there are still a myriad of circumstances, relationships and indeed downright good in our lives that we have to be grateful for. In short, a mountainous section of the population is abundantly blessed. In fact, most of us are blessed to differing degrees.
A Forbes Online article by Nicole McDermott discusses studies that have stringently indicated that being grateful for our blessings (it’s often beneficial to write them down) is greatly beneficial for our health (for instance reducing stress and anxiety), and is a valuable precursor to improved mental health outcomes (such as a better mindset).
There are, undoubtedly, those living in societies worldwide for whom little good appears to be present in their lives. Those living with health battles (either pertaining to themselves or a loved one), financial woes and relationship breakdowns spring readily to mind.
Looking further afield, one is conscious of the untenable destruction and undiluted human suffering occurring currently due to the war in the Ukraine, the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and the unfathomable famine in Africa. It is not only those living in these countries who feel like they are being veritably defeated. Family members and friends of war, Taliban and famine victims, living in Australia, for instance, are terribly distraught and worried about their loved ones overseas.
For those for whom blessings are not seen in their lives, clinging on to hope, whether that be, metaphorically, by a sturdy ‘rope’ or the flimsiest of ‘strings’, seems to be necessary for survival.
My beloved paternal grandparents, Evelyn and Bill, were grand examples of holding on to hope in the darkest of times. A soldier in World War II, Bill was captured in the Fall of Singapore in 1942. He spent the next three and a half years being starved, tortured and beaten as a helpless victim of the Japanese army, being a prisoner-of-war. Hope was all he had to hang on to. The hope of surviving. The hope of seeing his wife and son again.
For Evelyn, darkness was also all-consuming, as it was unknown for a long stretch of time whether her husband, M.I.A, was alive or not, and then whether he would survive the terrible conditions he found himself living in, in Burma. Evelyn and Bill were reunited towards the end of 1945, after the war had ended. Their individually treacherous journeys are a glowing testament to hope prevailing when all seems lost.
I’d like to end with words from a brave speech given by King George VI (the father of Queen Elizabeth II) at Christmas in 1939, when the cruel times of World War II were just beginning, and the future was unknown and appeared bleak. These words, quoted by King George in that speech, are from a poem entitled “God Knows” (aka “The Gate of the Year”) by Minnie Louise Haskins. Evelyn had the words printed on paper on her loungeroom wall. The somber, yet uplifting, poem, in part, reads:
“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown’. And he replied, ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.’ “
Wishing you, dear reader, many blessings for 2023 and beyond, and an abundance of hope to emerge from whatever difficulties that may be weighing upon you.
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