Thought for the Week: With gratitude
‘Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others’ - Cicero
The end of the year is a time for family, friends and good fellowship. It is also a time for reflection – a time to look back at the previous twelve months: at those things that were done and those things that ought to have been done; at happy and sad moments; at difficult and dark times; at times of hope and light; and at beginnings and endings.
John Clare, the poet, once reflected:
And what is life? An hourglass on the run,
A mist retreating from the morning sun.
Life moves on. It has its rhythms, cycles and seasons. Christmas reminds us of the passing of time. It prompts memories and reinforces a sense of continuity.
Christmas, for me, is also a time to look back with gratitude. My mother told us, her five children, to be thankful for our many blessings. This was a foundation phrase, a guide and lesson for life. We all absorbed it early and grew to understand how fundamental it was to our mother’s Christianity. It was one side of a coin. The other was called empathy.
We are thankful for another year at the Friend. The magazine has survived 174 Christmas seasons. Next year it will celebrate one-and-three-quarter centuries of life, which places it among the longest continuously published magazines in the world.
This is thanks to many people. Christmas is an appropriate time to acknowledge, with gratitude, their contribution. The magazine has always had a tiny staff. They work with real commitment and two have just left the ship. Tara Craig worked for the magazine with great energy and skill as its part-time journalist. Trish Carn, the part-time sub-editor and letters editor, is one of the longest serving members of staff. She is the kind of rock any enterprise needs to flourish, on which it can build, and has worked with enormous dedication, care and unselfishness.
Hundreds of trustees have, going back to 1843, offered selfless service and dragged themselves to endless council meetings. We owe a debt of gratitude to them and especially to our present trustees. They are fine stewards of a project we all believe in.
Finally, and most importantly, is the gratitude we owe – as staff and trustees – to you: the loyal readers of, and contributors to, the magazine. The Friend could not survive without you.
We look back on 2016 with a deep sense of gratitude. Thank you for your support and encouragement. We wish you a peaceful and restful break.
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