WE ARE
FAMILY
By Frank
Deaver
Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA
December is Family Month on the Rotary Calendar. And what better
opportunity to celebrate the “Family of Rotary” than during this
holiday season? The season is celebrated in many ways, each with
its own history and traditions. Christmas. Chanukah (Hanukkah).
Kwanzaa. Winter Solstice. New Years.
Holiday traditions may be quite different, but they typically
include a focus on family, both immediate family and extended
relationships. Sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, travel
great distances to be together. Neighbors visit neighbors, and
entire communities come together in celebrating the season.
As we learn of customs in various nations, we better understand
the traditions that families have practiced for centuries. Common
among all or most of the world’s societies are these:
** Worship. Religious expression brings families together in
faith, hope, expectation, and purpose.
** Music. We sing together and attend seasonal performances of
traditional music, lifting our spirits, stirring our memories,
transporting us back in time.
** Greenery. Trees are placed and decorated as symbols of
tradition and an expression of life, serving as a gathering place
for family or group events.
** Lights. We light trees, we light candles, we light our
homes and yards, we light our streets and public buildings, we even
light the sky with fireworks, all in celebration of the power of
light over darkness.
** Decorations. We display ornaments of multiple shapes and
colors, enlivening the festive atmosphere.
** Gifts. It’s a season of sharing: we exchange gifts in the
family, offer assistance to the needy among us, and donate to
charities at home and around the world.
** Food. We eat together, often with foods from treasured
family recipes that take us back in memory to childhood, or perhaps
to another country of family origin.
** Parties. Social events of many sorts bring together not
only families but neighborhoods and organizations as well.
Yes, in these and countless other ways, the peoples of the
earth, whatever their differences, join hearts and hands in the
great communion of mankind that is embodied in this season of
multiple celebrations.
This is truly a choice time of year for family. For an
immediate family within a single household. For the family of
neighbors and community. And specifically for that great and
extended Family of Rotary, from the individual Rotary Club to the
1.2 million Rotarians around the world.
RI President Glenn Estess related Family Month to a phrase from
the Object of Rotary: “to encourage and foster the development of
acquaintance as an opportunity for service.” He said that when he
joined Rotary, “I was welcomed, and felt a sense of belonging.”
When he met business and civic leaders, he said he immediately felt
a part of the community, the family. “Even when I visit clubs in
other countries,” he added, “I feel as though I’m among friends.”
The “Family of Rotary” is not a new phenomenon, but President
Glenn has reminded us that we truly are an extended family. In this
centennial year, we are called on to “Celebrate Rotary.” But in
this particular month, we are reminded to “Celebrate The Family of
Rotary.”
