Family Matters
Last Week's Column
"One of the most fascinating bits of science a young child learns is that there are millions of snowflakes, no two alike..." |
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It Takes a Village
to Make a Snowball
by Janet Tubbs
nce a year, it seems, people put
aside their differences and treat others as human beings
instead of objects to be tolerated, used, or
ignored.
For eleven and a half
months, many barely notice other people: salespersons,
civil servants, newspaper carriers, pedestrians, the homeless.
Suddenly, in mid-December, they're
filled with goodwill that
lasts a couple of weeks. Too many people are ignored the
rest of the year because of their skin color, religious
beliefs, or culture. The soul and fabric of the tapestry
that is our world today is being shredded by intolerance
-- yes, even during the holiday season. Have you ever
looked at the back side of a tapestry? It's amazing that
what appears to be a tangled mass of various colored
threads can produce a magnificent work of art when turned
over. It takes a master weaver to produce the total
picture.
One of the most fascinating bits of science a young child learns is that there are millions of snowflakes, no two alike. People of all ages hold out their hands during a snowfall to catch the flakes and try, unsuccessfully, to find two identical bits of frozen rain.
Someone once said, "In unity, there is diversity". Our mixed-up world needs togetherness, not separativeness. Humanity needs people to come together in the spirit of brotherhood -- 365 days a year.
Like the snowflakes,
we all come from a common source, but none of us is
alike. Can anyone truly say 
that one snowflake is superior
to the other millions falling from the sky? Don't they
share the point of origination? Try to imagine the impact
on the entire world if everyone treated their fellow man
with the kindness, goodwill and generosity of the holiday
season.
We might see that people and snowflakes aren't too different.
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Janet Tubbs is founder and president of Children’s Resource Center, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her column, Family Matters, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.
You can visit Janet's home page by clicking on this link: