Keep helping less fortunate through new year

Ring in the new year with prayer.

On New Year's Eve, our mother would have us kneel and pray, thanking God for the blessings we received during the past year and asking him to look after us in the coming year. We asked that we be able to look after each other and those in need. Only then were we allowed to run outside and bang the pots and pans to ring in the new year.

How things have changed. Now the Calphalon pans don't sound the same, and neither do our public policies. Maybe it's time to get back to basics. Let the spirit that prevails through the holiday, basically the "Utah values" we espouse — compassion, family, integrity and caring for the needy — be lived throughout the year; and let them be reflected in the public policies our legislators will be deliberating in the coming year.

During the holiday we saw an outpouring of caring, sharing with compassion for those in need, the homeless, the children, the single parent, the elderly and the disabled. Our hearts and our wallets were opened; we volunteered, served in soup kitchens, filled the food pantries, got shoes and coats for children, and looked after our veterans and families who were in the service of our country. As we gave, we found ourselves with the glow that comes with giving. We wish we could somehow bottle it and spread it throughout the coming year.

And, we can. It starts at home, perhaps by asking ourselves, what have we done for somebody else today? And how can we help our children see that by doing for others they, too, can spread the joy, feel that inner glow that comes with giving all year long? It's not in material things but maybe a phone call, a visit to shut-ins, a thank-you to the store clerks and those who deliver the newspaper and the mail. Reach out to your neighbors, bring in their garbage cans. What we find out is that it's not always the material things; rather, the most important thing is that people understand they are not alone, that somebody cares.

As we pray, let us reflect upon the values we learned in our churches, from our parents and from those who have made a difference in our lives. Americans have always been charitable and have nurtured different institutions — volunteers, churches, nonprofits, civic organizations and government institutions — to take care of those in need. Utah is known for its compassionate caring, especially for those in need, and we've been able to successfully integrate our public and private giving with dignity.