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Happy Solstice

Last Updated (Wednesday, 14 May 2008 08:23)
Written by Roger Bobo
Sunday, 30 December 2007 17:20

Articles - Personal Essays

Our planet has completed another trip around the sun; it always does every year. It’s something we can depend on, it’s something that won’t change. Mankind has been celebrating this annual solar revolution for thousands of years and hopefully, with a combination of luck and care, will continue for thousands more.

And we, this collective entity called mankind, continue to grow and continue to learn. We share a powerful curiosity that leads us to explore and as our horizons expand and our discoveries increase, that curiosity drives us to search still further. There will always be more incredible mysteries to explore, that’s what makes us unusual among the many other beasts with whom we share this planet. Known by many names, the solstice is a wonderful common denominator that our tribes, nations, religions, political philosophies and cultures all have in common.

Personally, I feel very fortunate that with the facility of the Internet, I have almost daily contact with cyberfriends from China, Indonesia, Quebec, Italy, Romania and the USA. The one thing that becomes abundantly apparent in such communications is that, like the solstice, we all have many ways and words to describe the very things that make us all similar.

Sadly, even with our instinct to learn, there has never been more hatred, anger and intolerance on our planet than there is today. It seems so clear that the only possibility for peace in this world is by learning more about each other and that the opportunity to do so has never been greater than today. Yet there are those who rigidly believe that their way, their tribal customs, their nation, their religion, their political philosophies and cultures are the only correct way. They are tragically wrong.

We are blessed today with a communication potential far beyond our imaginations only a few years ago. My New Years wish is that we will use this gift of our time to broaden our knowledge and horizons and that our beautiful blue planet continues to be the fertile grounds for environment and ideas that it has been for millennia.

Happy Solstice,

Roger

Okinawa, Japan