Many of us have been looking to the spiritual leaders of the community to come forward and help heal the wounds of the past year. Human beings frequently have differences of opinion and in small towns like ours, differences can become magnified to the point that one faction sees no value in the beliefs of the other. Enter the wise men and women.

In a recent letter to the editor, Rev. Dr. Sarah Foulger speaks magnificently to the issue.

While acknowledging that each player in the effort to save traditional healthcare on the peninsula — whether they are engaged in saving lives, or struggling to change lives — has an important and relevant job to do, she recognizes that, “The loss of our hospital beds and ER leaves an awful hole in our community (and) a sadness remains.”

She speaks further of the anger and frustration we all feel when dealing with the inevitable changes in local services brought about by national trends, and in conclusion, she challenges all of us to try to be an instrument of peace.

Each of us who live and work here is an individual with needs and each has a sense of tradition and pride of place. We, after all, live in relative isolation in a picturesque piece of heaven on the coast of Maine. In order to preserve our uniqueness and still have our needs met, we must go forward together. We must put aside our differences, step up to the plate and build something that we can all be proud of. It is a daunting challenge but we are capable of meeting that challenge.

On October 1, members of the community came together for closure at a candlelight vigil on the St. Andrews campus. The Reverend Maria Hoecker, another wise woman, offered a prayer for moving on. We offer parts of that prayer as a call to meet the challenge:

“We circle in to mark an ending that is a beginning
We remember the healing that has happened here:
We honor the never-failing succession of births and the deaths of our neighbors.
We are grateful for the many hearts and
hands of those who reached out and
embraced their calling to heal the sick, comfort the dying, and weep with the bereaved

As we move forward, may we all come to know
Your healing of body and renewal of Spirit.
Travel with us, accompany us,
gladden us, help us, and
aid us to keep our hearts open.
All so that we might better move on
to where we are called to be.”

The Wellness Foundation will be offering the second in our Third Thursday forums, “Health Insurance in Today’s World” on November 21 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Columba’s Church on Emery Lane. Please join us.