Unity in 2008: We’re all in this together

Date Posted: Monday, January 28, 2008
Author: Gregory Slayton

 It took Aesop just five words to say it: “In union there is strength.”  That is my hope and prayer for Bermuda, for the United States, and for our partnership in 2008.

Bermuda has just come out of a tough election campaign – and we’re right in the midst of one in the U.S. Unfortunately or not, free speech and democracy work that way. But it doesn’t mean that schisms cannot be healed or that progress for the common good cannot be achieved.

Yes, there are political, economic and social divisions here in Bermuda – as there are all over the world – that need to be healed. There are divisions among families that have caused great pain and suffering. And yes, there are long-standing racial issues of many generations that cannot be swept under the rug or ignored…on either side.

 

But the way forward – at least the best way forward – is together. This is a small Island – but in many ways a truly great Island. I believe that no other Island in the entire world supports its people as well as does Bermuda. But there are still serious divisions that wrack this beautiful land. So now, at the dawn of the New Year, it is our prayer that each of us commit to putting these divisions behind us – and moving forward together.  Black and white, rich and not so rich, Americans and Bermudians and people of diverse faiths, backgrounds and nationalities. For it is only by putting these divisions behind us and working together that some of the biggest issues this Island faces (be it educating our young people, winning the war against crime and drugs, caring for our environment or taking care of the elderly) are going to be solved.

 

If each and every one of us is willing to put away artificial divisions of race and wealth and status, 2008 can be a year of great progress for all the people of Bermuda. It doesn’t mean that we won’t have differences – but it can mean that we hash those differences out in a respectful dialogue – coming to a mutually beneficial answer. There is a growing awareness that basic social problems must be solved together if Bermuda is to move forward in a healthy way. That means that the family, the basic societal building block, must be strengthened; children must feel valued and they need to be nurtured and encouraged to become the best they can be – whatever their strengths and goals.  Healthy children respect themselves – and others. And that’s what it’s all about.

 

Former United Nations’ leader Kofi Annan said it well: “We may have different religions, different languages, different color skin, but we all belong to the human race.”  And as the Good Book teaches us all: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in Unity.”  Might each one of us do our part to make that a reality here in Bermuda in 2008.

 

Courtesy of the Bermuda Network News