Today is the day I will pull down the old-fashioned jumbo kitchen calendar taped inside the cabinet door and look back on the scribbled notes I lived my life by during 2015. Remembering the good and not-so-good events of the past year, I am thankful for those in my life who make me laugh and smile. My new year’s wish is always the same: I wish that 2016 will be a year of health and happiness for all of us.
Some of our community leaders were kind enough to share their words of hope and introspection as we enter a new year. Also, members of the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council shared their new year thoughts, as well as commented on the recent events on terrorism throughout the world. Last month, the Council hosted their annual Thanksgiving celebration, where people celebrated the beauty of the holiday together.
Thank you to those who shared their message with us:
The holiday season offers us a special opportunity to recognize our God-given blessings, as we reconnect with friends and family, with neighbors, with one another. Together we can add so much beauty, warmth and light to this world!!
With that in mind, may we support each other on our spiritual journeys, encouraging everyone to stay true to that divine spark within us. May your holidays be filled with joy and meaning. May we join together in the year ahead to bring our world closer to a true and lasting peace.
Cantor Roger Weisberg
Congregation Beth Judea, Long Grove
I hope and wish for a rebirth of civility where people will learn to listen to each other and respect other points of view.”
Joanne Dicker
President, Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council
I wish everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous and safe New Year. I wish the state passes the budget with no cuts to the municipalities. I hope the Village of Buffalo Grove can advance its economic development, diversify its revenue streams, show growth in its sales tax revenue and provide outstanding services to its residents.,
Village President Beverly Sussman
Buffalo Grove
I am one of the original members of The Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council. To my husband Neal & I it has & still is to me a “labor of love.” The members on the board are filled with such a sense of giving, helping and making a difference in the world. Certainly, we share more commonalities than differences and we learn from one another…respecting the different Faiths that we share. There is no room in our world for hate & we have expressed this publicly with our wonderful clergy. We practice love & understanding through education and sharing with the community.
Rochelle Greenwald
More Top Picks Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer
Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council
The recently held Interfaith Thanksgiving service celebrated what unites us. With 1,000 people in attendance, it showed how the greater Buffalo Grove community is unique in that we work to overcome our differences. If more people focused on what unites us, rather than on what separates us, the world would be a much better place.
In our family, we have a long-standing tradition of making a Christmas wish for world peace. This might sound trite, but I wish it was that easy to achieve peace and end the fighting around the world. So, behalf of our family, I wish for peace for everyone in the new year.
Joanne Johnson
Village of Buffalo Grove
Finally, I look to the wise words of Ann Landers as we embark upon a new year. Enjoy celebrating and I’ll see you next year!
“Let this coming year be better than all the others. Vow to do some of the things you have always wanted to do but could not find the time. Call up a forgotten friend. Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories. Vow not to make a promise you do not think you can keep. Walk tall, and smile more. You will look 10 years younger. Do not be afraid to say, I love you. Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.” – Ann Landers
Please keep in touch and send neighborhood news to Aileen Simons at [email protected].
Aileen Simons is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press