This Thanksgiving be peace to one another

“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Let’s take each moment, and live each moment, in peace eternally; let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

I grew up with this hymn and it is one of my favorites. You would think that living in peace would mean a calm and tranquil journey through life’s sea, but the reality is that it is not always the case.

Truth is everyone has to go through the storm of life. Everyone has to weather the rough seas. It takes courage, humility, patience, respect, kindness, compassion, just to name a few things. In a perfect world peace would be a given, but in the real world, peace is hard to obtain sometimes. Everyone makes mistakes and does things they wish they may not have. That is what being human is about.

Recently Santa Rosa went through its elections. As a city reporter I focused heavily on the candidates for the Milton City Council and the mayor of Milton. I was privileged with the opportunity to meet with each candidate and get to know a little about them. What I learned about each of these people was that they all had the best of intentions.

Then I thought about this: the amount of courage and strength it must take to take time out of their lives and families and put their life in public eye. Each of the people I am about to speak about did this because they wanted to do something good for something they believed in.

Councilwoman Pat Lunsford has served on the council for over 20 years. Even though she decided to step down from the council at the end of the year I thought about what dedication is must have taken for her to serve the city she loves that long.

Councilman Alan Lowery, who will be leaving his seat at the end of the year, served as a firefighter for 30 years before deciding to again serve his city. I thought about the strength it must have taken for him to decide that after years of putting himself in harms way to decide to take time out of his life and family to see to city matters.

Mayor Wesley Meiss, who will also be leaving his seat on the council, began his service to the city as a newly wed husband and father. I thought about the sacrifice that must have been to him to take time away from a new family to do what he did. 

Council members Jeff Snow, Casey Powell, Mary Ellen Johnson, Peggi Smith, Heather Hathaway and Sharon Holley all will continue to serve in their roles. They will continue to take hours and days out of their lives and loved ones to serve the city in matters. I think about the dedication and patience that must take for them to carry on.

Your newly elected mayor and council members Heather Lindsay, Shannon Rice and George Jordan have made the decision to dedicate themselves to taking time away from their loved ones to serve the city. Think about their sacrifice.

Also for a moment think about the other candidates who ran for council. Think about how Pamela Mitchell, David Farrow, Jimmy Messick, and Shari Sebastio had the courage and the strength to endure a campaign and the pressure that went with it.

I also was reflecting on this as the Thanksgiving season approached. This is also a time to come together.  I know people will say “I did not like this person,” or “This person was great,” and give one hundred reasons to support it. But maybe we could look at things another way.

Whether you were for or against the outgoing council members and mayor, the incoming council members and mayor, the remaining council members, or any of the candidates not elected, think about the courage, strength, humility, and dedication it took for each of them to do what they did. Maybe if you see them on the street, whether you were for them or against, you will at least say “Thank you for your dedication to the city.”

Like I said before we all make mistakes in life. But Thanksgiving is a time of peace and remembrance.  So, remember to think before you speak, meditate before you act, and reflect after. Because our words and actions can be very instrumental in building our peace, or very instrumental in breaking it down.  It’s Thanksgiving, let there be peace on earth. I let it begin with me; will you?

Kevin Boyer is a reporter for the Santa Rosa Press Gazette, he can be reached at 850-623-2120 or at kboyer@srpressgazette.com.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: This Thanksgiving be peace to one another