Chairman’s Chit Chat January 2025
2024 was not a great year for the human race.
Our planet was rocked by earthquakes, ravaged by wildfires and devastated by flooding, all causing death and suffering.
If the science is correct, then the last two were the direct result of human activity contributing to global warming.
But much more death and misery befell the world owing to the many wars and conflicts sweeping across numerous regions of the globe.
As a species, we humans are not good custodians of the fragile, insignificant speck in the incomprehensive vastness of space we call home. Humans do not seem able to co-exist in peace and harmony as do many species in the natural world. Ants and honeybees not only exist but thrive by working together; for them it is all for one and one for all.
Jessie and I have an eight-year-old grandson, Edward, and we are fearful for his and his generation’s future if things do not change. The peoples on earth need to put aside their differences and vested interests to pull together for the common good of the planet and its inhabitants.
I am an eternal optimist and I believe there are more good people than bad, so there is hope.
Wishing for a better world in 2025 and beyond I will leave you with this quote from Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York 2005–2020:
A teacher asked his students:
“Tell me, how do you know that night has ended and day has begun?”
So they asked him: “Is it when you can distinguish an apple tree from a mango tree?”
He said “no”.
“Is it when you look into the distance and can tell the difference between a dog and a goat?”
“No.”
They pressed him: “What is it then?”
He said: “When you look into the face of a man or a woman, and you cannot see that he or she is your brother or sister, it doesn’t matter what day it is – it is still night.”
