Walking on the light of a New Year

Jan 04, 2009 Clarence E. Pilgrim, Features / Columnists

By Clarence E. Pilgrim

As the dawn of a new year bursts irresistibly across a familiar horizon of many yesterdays, the light of hope continues to shine across a world full of enclaves of darkness and geographic nights.

The light of goodness enveloped in the human spirit is the only hope we have in a world full of hopeless thoughts and dreadful deeds.

There is the never-ending question of “What should a person do to make a difference and let their light shine?” The answer is that one ought to act in a manner that will produce the best consequences possible, and tap into those intrinsic qualities which will give strength and purpose to all actions.

The continued struggles of our decisions to live our lives in a global village, where issues which were once distant are now on our doorsteps, has added to the complexity of what were once constant life formulas which have slowly but suddenly become variable and unstable equations, adding to the clockwise and counter-clockwise stir of life’s uncertainty.

Death’s revolving door on many physical and metaphysical levels is an unquestioned end result to the extinguishment of life’s present light, but too often it is arrived at prematurely or unplanned.

Disease, disaster and poverty are wealthy ferrymen to the underworld, but they owe their allegiance to the kings of greed, intolerance and selfishness, who continue to give them a firm foundation upon which to mislead and destroy humanity.

Individually, we must be prepared to enrich our lives by uplifting the lives of those around us. The compassion that we show, the kind word that we give, the helpful hand that we offer are all ways that we let the light of goodness shine through our souls to produce the best consequences possible.

Walking along a beach one day, I encountered a small boy building a sand castle close to the edge of the beach. At each successive wave the sand castle became a victim of the foaming water.

As fast as his masterpiece was destroyed he would re-build it with equal speed and unrivalled determination. After watching curiously for some time, I noticed another onlooker going over to him and remarked how sorry she was that his work was in vain.

The lad looked up and said to her that she should not worry, because his intention was not simply that he could build the castle, but to prove to himself that each time it went down, he could rise to the challenge of building it better and stronger.

Sometimes life is like that wave on the beach attempting to wash away our accomplishments and leave us empty-handed. It is then up to us to rise to the occasion and through the sheer strength of our character, persevere until we have either established or re-established the desired outcome we are working towards.

This small boy shows that sometimes things may not come easy or soon enough. It is therefore left to that element of our inner guiding light, which we should depend upon to fuel our drive to succeed and be a fulcrum to continued successes.

A new year should be symbolic for a new or renewed beginning for relationships on many levels whether it is manifested as Agape, Eros, Philia or some combination of the three.

This is a time for the old to give way to the new, where re-invigoration can occur and the casting off of decayed thoughts and actions becomes an intimate embrace to relieve unwanted burdens.

However altruistic our intentions are, our light must shine through the lost friendships of the past year and continue to outshine the deceit, back-biting and jealousy which, like a cancer, have spread from the mouths of “once upon a time” friends.

The dynamics of human nature is like an unending frontier full of both tame and wildlife with no clearly defined boundaries.

We must give each other that precious gift of understanding and care which can only come from an inner light of greatness caused by our belief in a divine creator, greater than ourselves.

As we take our first uncertain steps into the new year like a child taking its first steps, we should let the example of the untarnished harmony of an undisturbed natural habitat teach us the beautiful pageantry of the flora and fauna in its natural glorious diversity, and the genius of the melody contained in biorhythms which flow through and controls every organism under the sun. There is a purpose and a place for everything if anything is to work right!

Let us be in sync with our hearts and souls and allow that everlasting light, which is in every soul, to shine through like a beacon of hope and optimism for 2009.
Happy new year to all!

Clarence E. Pilgrim is an environmentalist, advocate for human rights, educator, a senior officer in the Antigua & Barbuda Civil service and volunteer for various non-profit organisations.