Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2021 8:44 PM
Subject: New Year’s Gratitude
Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and safe 2022. Please remember to follow your local and national governmental recommendations when planning your center/group in-person meetings.
Let us join together with the worldwide SSSGC family to express our gratitude to our beloved Swami for His ever-present grace that has guided us to meet with the many challenges posed during 2021. In addition to facing the various natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, earthquakes, an ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and societal divisiveness, the Sai community also encountered an organizational challenge.
An initiative to strengthen the Sri Sathya Sai Mission by uniting the various Sri Sathya Sai Institutions was met with resistance and misunderstanding, leading many individuals, centers, and groups to disassociate from the birthplace and epicenter of Swami’s organization, Prasanthi Nilayam. Despite these ‘bumps in the road’, the Sri Sathya Sai Global Council was inaugurated and offered to Swami on Guru Poornima, July 24, 2021. His Divine Will manifested in this official, united organization, with a heritage going back over 50 years, with an enhanced structure that serves as the beacon of light and love around the world, and that will continue to do so for countless future generations.
Each devotee was presented with a spiritual test, to go deep within, to use their discrimination, using the right motivation, to choose to support the best path for His organization. Devotees aligning with the SSSGC chose loyalty to principles over friends and personalities, allegiance to Prasanthi Nilayam over individuals, concern for the long-term health of His organization over the short-term, and dedication to the spirit of Swami’s teachings of Unity over fragmented misuse of selected statements leading to separation.
The guiding principles of unity, collaboration, independence, and transparency laid the groundwork for moving forward. Devotees rallied with renewed fervor, centering around following both the letter and spirit of Sri Sathya Sai’s teachings.
Further challenges in the form of misinformation caused concerns for many, which with His grace, have been dismantled, and devotees and centers are continuing to join regularly as experience has given them confidence. A sample of the concerns addressed are highlighted in the attached document.
The amount of loving service, devotional, and educational activities that devotees have been engaged in over the past 5 months has been awe inspiring. Please refer to our Birthday newsletter located on our website to refresh your memory. In December, Christmas celebrations were in full swing with a special Zone 1 Christmas Program featuring Dana Gillespie, Christmas carols by the SSSE children, an inspiring talk “Learning about Jesus” by the YA’s, along with a special “Small Miracles, Great Love” Christmas offering led by the USA -Region 3 YA’s.
Moving forward for 2022, in addition to continuing with the same great initiatives at the Zonal, National, Regional and Center levels discussed in the link above, samples of further elevating programs in the works for 2022 are highlighted in the attached document.
It is only His guidance and grace that make these past and any future events possible. We continue to collectively pray to Swami for more opportunities to unite and serve our communities. As we embark upon this New Year, we welcome all devotees with open hearts and arms to come and join the SSSGC. Let us all join and toil together in harmony, putting aside any past misunderstandings and differences. Together, let us Love All, Serve All; Help Ever, Hurt Never.
With Most Loving Sairams,
SSSGC, Zone 1 National Presidents and Chair
- SSSGC Zone 1 Concerns Addressed
- SSSGC Zone 1 Initiatives 2022
SSSGC-Zone-1-Concerns-Addressed.pdf