EDITORIAL: Turning the Leaf (12/31/77)

EDITORIAL

Turning the Leaf

There is something about those midnight chimes come each December 31st, as we ring out the old, ragged year and ring in the yet unspoiled new one, exchanging best wishes with kisses and sips of champagne. While pragmatically it is only the movement of the clock, a man-invented instrument to keep score of our lives, spiritually it is the time for re-assessment and resolve for the future.

For us, Ukrainians the world over, 1977 rushed by with poignancy in the wake of repeatedly disheartening news from Ukraine that Moscow's terror persisted unabatedly. New names surfaced each day, names of courageous men and women who spoke out against the evil designs of the oppressor to destroy every vestige of Ukrainianism, only to re-appear on the pages of newspapers around the world as victims of the KGB conducted terror. Men like Rudenko and Tykhy, virtually unknown until late 1976, were a few months later added to the rota of Morozes, Shukhevyches, Svitlychnys and countless others, incarcerated earlier for the very same ideals.

But hearteningly, inspired as well by the newly elected President Jimmy Carter's re-commitment of America to human rights, new names also cropped up in our own ranks on this side of the Iron Curtain, raising their voices in behalf of our kin in Ukraine. A new sense of consciousness enveloped our young people as they chose myriad channels to alleviate the plight of our people there. A stronger sense of solidarity was established, cementing the bonds that unite us all.

Determination is nourished by hope, and as we turn the leaf amid clamor and frivolity, there is that ever-present feeling at this time that what is to come will be brighter than what has been.

As we greet the new year, let us be sustained by that hope and let us work in unity, with resolve, toward the attainment of our individual and collective goals.

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