A Word In Your Ear - January 4, 2018

We want change, always intended for the better. Yet we still desire peace and calm, rather than disruption or conflict in our lives. It’s a similar dilemma when with others.

At a New Year’s Eve ball, we marvelled at the diverse natures – and sizes and shapes - of people, who all nonetheless embraced the sociable mood. What was most heartening was everyone’s tolerance of each other, while all so diverse. There was even a gay air to the event – in every sense of the word.

How times have changed although, admittedly, only gradually and through painful conflict.

Before Christmas we managed to attend our local church for once, searching for that elusive festive spirit in this chill season.

The short sermon made a surprising and lasting impression. Using Graham Greene’s classic novel The Power And The Glory, a reader explained how there was saintliness in us all; while also human weakness even in those sanctified. The lesson, he concluded, was that God, who knew us best, still forgave and loved us – just as we were.

What a relief to realise we don’t have to change, only rise to that occasion when its call comes. It makes us feel easier about unsettling failings.

Perhaps we can all improve from accepting, even growing to love, ourselves.

Of course, love isn’t always easy; nor sustaining any mood, outlook or belief through daily routine, or unexpected twists in life.

However, let’s be kind to ourselves. It would dispel so much guilt, dissatisfaction and anxiety while, hopefully, also making us more sympathetic to others.

What a welcome resolution then! Isn’t it a more acceptable one, not just to us but for everyone else?

• For Roy’s books visit www.royedmonds-blackpool.com.