My dear friends,
Anniversaries such as the New Year are yearly events that are similar to a spiral staircase. As you climb, you reach the same part of the circle but always higher than the one before.The clear view of the rungs below is what helps us with the rest of the climb to the top. Hardly anyone, nay no one, ever stops midway on a staircase. So it is with life as well. We are standing on the threshold of another New Year which has dawned on us like a flower unfurling its petals in the warmth of the morning sun. At a vantage point, where we can look back with gratitude at the year that has slipped away, and with hope and anticipation at the year that lies ahead.
It was predicted by the soothsayers and astrologers that the end of the world will happen on the 21st of December 2012. That day, like many other predicted doomsdays in the past, has come and gone without a whimper. Another example of the folly of human wisdom and the infallibility of God’s word as in Mathew 24: 36. We have the promise of a great future as the new year unfolds.
The past year, 2012, has been another year of blessings for our institution – just too many to enumerate. Let’s take a few moments to reflect on our personal and institutional lives and see for ourselves how good God has been. I have had the privilege of meeting many who have received new life by the care given in CMC. I have met many staff whose lives have been transformed by CMC. I have met many patients who believe that there is a divine presence in the hospital environment for which ‘pilgrimage value’ they keep coming even after they are well. All this, amidst our constraints and shortcomings! So if our institution continues to find favour with so many patients from all over the world, we must thank God for being the wellspring of our resources. We must also thank God that we have been called to be a part of this great mission.
There needs to be convergence of four ingredients for success – Skill, Enthusiasm, Opportunity and God’s blessings. The New Year unfolds with tremendous opportunities. Opportunity to respond to the changing needs of our country. Opportunity to cater to the burgeoning patient population across all ages from paediatric to geriatric, who have few better places to find quality health care. Opportunity to create new systems that will keep us relevant to society and enhance our vision. So if we can resolve to harness our skills, mix it with enthusiasm, seek out these new opportunities and flavour everything we do with God’s anointing, WE WILL BE A BLESSING to many more in our country.
One more thought to share with you. If we are partners in the building of God’s kingdom, its appropriate that I request you to be more forthcoming in your time and talent. I am aware that there is a lot of leadership potential amongst the young faculty. Please step on centre-stage for CMC needs your inputs in steering this institution to greater heights. Let’s begin this year. So, amidst all our difficulties, let us look to this New Year with hope and the assurance that God is with us and that we are ‘co-workers with God’. I thank God for each one of you.
Warm regards and prayers.
Sunil Chandy