The Warmth of the Human Spirit

As many of you know my parents were both born on peanut farms in Southeast Virginia. They were very connected to a world that was out of doors and the lessons of nature.

In the winter of 1956 I was ten years old. My parents were very religious and we never missed going to church. However on one early Sunday morning my father received a phone call from his best friend. They were both from Virginia and they both came to Pittsburgh for the rebuilding of the city. His friend related something to my father that was going on at Lake Emily in Renzie Park in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. It gave them both memories of their childhood.

My father announced we were NOT going to church and he whispered into my mother's ear what my brother and I were going to witness for the first time. We all piled into a 1953 Studebaker bullet nose and drove to Lake Emily. There in the semi-frozen lake was a group of Canadian geese trying to make a late migration south. They had spent the night on Lake Emily. One of the younger geese had one of its legs frozen in the lake and could not free itself to fly. We witnessed all of the other geese gathering around the "stuck" goose providing the warmth of their bodies to melt the ice holding back their young and weaker flying partner. It was quite a scene.

As the geese gathered closer and closer the "stuck" goose became more calm. Finally after about thirty minutes the ice melted and all of the geese took off in perfect formation. The lesson was not lost on my brother and me. The more we gather close and share the warmth of the human spirit the easier it is to fly and free ourselves from life's frozen moments. My prayer is that this message will touch your heart. That you will allow the warmth of your God given human spirit to release the potential of those weaker than yourself and in need of a little support. We are all so blessed and our calling it to give back something . . . anything.

As we enter 2008 we each will find our "leg frozen in the lake" at least once. Let's support one another and all fly together in perfect formation.

Jan Ricks Jennings, MHA, LFACHE

Senior Consultant

Senior Management Services, LLC

Jan.Jennings@Eagle.Talons.net

JanJenningsBlog.Blogspot.com

724.733.0509 Office

412.913.0636 Cell

December, 2007