New Year's resolution

A big thank you for all the wonderful articles and photos in the newspaper this 2013. I love the front-pages full of northern lights, bears and reflective waters. Our part of God’s country is so beautiful and alive.

But the coverage of people in Northwest Montana and all those around us is really my focus. Stories of folks whose lives include acts of kindness, love and servitude for the needy, helpless, forgotten, lonely and stranded.

This world seems to bury us in the sorrow — the dark side of life. Too often, we become certain that all is gloom and doom, and we can never rise above it.

You have been showing that there is great love pouring out among us, bringing hope, support and light into our hearts.

We need the inspiration to be uplifting in one another’s lives, not condemnation. Only the power of that which is greater than mere mankind has the knowledge to be our true judge.

We are free to put our feet in the shoes of others, to treat all others as we would want to be treated. There is common ground in love and respect. We can live in harmony. It can begin now. Happy New Year.

Cassandra Thommen

Columbia Falls