Give thanks, pray for peace, care for each other

Happy New Year. Let us kneel and pray. That's what my mother made us do at midnight every year to celebrate the New Year. It was a tradition; we first thanked God for the past year and prayed he would allow us to have another one together.

However, as a kid I was more interested in running out in the yard beating pots with big spoons to make noise than taking the time to pray and thank God. I kept hoping Mom would keep the prayer short because I was ready to party, bang the pots, eat "bunuelos" (thin fried dough with honey) and sip Mexican hot chocolate with sticks of cinnamon. Praying then was not on my first-thing-to-do list, partying was. That was then.

Now I wake up at midnight, thank God for the blessings, and pray our grown children are healthy, for those in need, and that our leaders work for peace and a better world. Forget the partying, my mother had it right. It's about giving thanks for the gift of life and looking after one another. In today's fast, complex world we seem to be losing our sense of community, love for each other, and forgetting our blessings.

This year I am wishing we can all keep the spirit of Christmas of giving, looking after each other, and rekindle the kindness we have shown in the past; that our elected leaders make decisions consistent with our common values. Values define who we are and what binds us together as a civil society. We created institutions to perpetuate them – family, schools, and religions – and now must be renewed to meet the challenges we face in today's changing world. We now find our families struggling to find or keep a job to meet their basic needs – food, shelter, clothing, health care. We have breadwinners who have lost their jobs and one sickness from being homeless, students who can't afford tuition, and adults who are losing their savings.

Rather than pulling together as other generations have done in hard times, we seem more divided with lawmakers preoccupied with wedge issues that further divide us. My hope is that each of us will work to live the values that have helped us enjoy the blessings we have, and to ask our elected officials to advance policies that help bring us together that strengthen our families.

We need a family policy. Educating our children and retraining our adults is key in supporting families in meeting their basic needs. New skills and knowledge are needed to compete in today's knowledge-based economy. The good paying jobs can now be done by other nations; so our leaders must provide the education, training and retraining necessary to assure the next generation will thrive and compete in the new economy and enjoy the quality of life we take for granted.