Letter from the President February 2019

“Groundhog Day and A Festival of Light”

February 2nd is the midpoint between winter solstice in December and the spring equinox in March. In America, every year that day is declared Groundhog Day. The story is that on this day if a groundhog looks out from his burrow and it is a bright clear day he will see his shadow and dart back into his burrow. Legend has it this means there will be six more weeks of winter. But, if clouds cover the sky and he does not see his shadow, spring is not far away. Actually, both statements are true because February 2nd is the midpoint and six weeks away in either case. The deeper meaning is the triumph of spring over winter, birth over death.

On this same day, February 2, each year Christianity holds Candlemas, a festival of light to celebrate the presentation of newborn baby Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. In Jewish tradition dedication of a newborn child takes place 40-days after birth. Luke 2:22-40 tells of when the prophets Simeon and Anna greet the baby, Mary, and Joseph with great joy.

I mention all of this to say, the month of January is now gone and it is time for us to peek out of our burrows and see the bright light of a new day. What does this new year hold for us? I suspect there are new experiences waiting just around the corner. The question is, will our eyes and hearts by open to what is new in our midst? Or, will be pull our heads back into our burrow and go on as if nothing ever happened? We can choose, can’t we? We can embrace the light of a new day or withdraw as if it never happened. The choice is our own.

This past year at our Institute, we had two major new doors open to us. First, we had the opportunity to join a coalition with six other non-profits and train 100 individuals in mind-body skills for Hurricane Harvey Relief. That challenge took place with 85 graduating and reaching out to 4,000 in need. We now have 45 more people being trained. This means we will have a team of 130 people trained for disaster relief. We could have pulled our heads back into our burrow, but I am glad we didn’t.

The second major thing that happened is we were invited to join other organizations in Houston to be partner in an international program, Cities Changing Diabetes. Because of the rise in obesity, type 2 diabetes is rapidly becoming an epidemic. To meet the opportunity, we hired Thomasina Burns who has experience in both wellness education and congregational leadership. Thomasina is now training teams of individuals from religious organizations who bring lifestyle training to people in their own churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples. I am glad we accepted this challenge and can now see the impact this is making in the lives of so many people.

What new challenges will come this year? For one thing, we have invited Saybrook University to come to our Institute this fall and offer MS and PhD courses in Mind Body Medicine. This will offer the opportunity for interested individuals to obtain post-graduate degrees without leaving home. To be sure of the quality of instruction, I enrolled in the PhD course of study and love it. I believe many people who look out of their burrows will see this as a bright opportunity to learn about the mind-body connection and how it can enrich their own lives and the lives of those they will serve in their various professions.

What do you see? Is this year filled with fresh opportunities? The question is, will we embrace the new opportunities as they come our way or will we slip back into our comfortable burrows?

John K. Graham, M.D., D.Min., President/CEO President and CEO – Institute for Spirituality and Health