To the people of Ward 3, and to all of Westfield, I would like to share a recent experience with you. A few weeks ago I attended an event at the First Congregational Church regarding immigration and education. After the program, I suggested that we should have an informal multi-cultural social event with food, music etc., so that people from Westfield can have a chance to taste, see, and hear about the new cultures in Westfield. Well, the planning for this has begun.
And, this past Friday I was invited to attend a religious service at the Islamic Center in West Springfield. A friend of mine introduced me to the head of their Trustees, and invited me to attend. While all of my life I have come to know many friends from many different ethnic origins: from Eastern and Western Europe, E. Asia, Israel, North Africa; with many different religions, this was my first time to go to a Mosque. I was warmly greeted by a number of members, who showed me great hospitality. The sermon focused upon the family, and making moral life judgements as opposed to materialistic ones. While there I noticed on the walls posters regarding Human Rights, The Rights of Women, and other universally shared values and principles.
After the service I was introduced to others while I was served lunch. There I ran into an old friend who had not seen in30 years, and we reminisced about our shared past working in youth services, and what we had done since. That was very wonderful, especially at our age to know we have friends who are still around, and are healthy and still committed to the same social responsibility issues as we were back then. In these time of so much negativity we must remember that all the hardship, we as Americans have gone through over 400 years; the wrongs that they had done, only to be corrected and made up for. How, in the 20th Century, not only to become world leaders, but to be a moral beacon. That as a great nation we had great responsibilities to preserve the peace, seek justice, and to heal the wounds of time, all by every day, mortal and imperfect people who were by Old World inferiors, non-pedigreed, ruffians who lacked discipline and self-control but that is us the people in the rough, who changed the world, and made it better by not being like them, but uniquely being ourselves. And, though very diverse, as well, to work together to create such a nation as ours that inspired people around the world not with our wealth and power but by the achievements of our everyday people working together provide opportunities so that each, separately, could find our calling that in turn contributed back in to the greater good. And while it was not easy, our American principles enabled us to overcome our fears and distrust of one another, so too these principles must be kept for the next and new generation of New World Americans. Your Former Ward 3 City Councilor, Brian Hoose. [email protected]
