It begins with me
I join with the nation in grieving the result of the senseless acts of violence on Jan. 6. While many are asking how and why, I am asking each and every person reading this to reflect on our collective consciousness that creates an environment that tolerates the use of violence to solve problems. From bullying to gun violence to war, we have accepted violence as part of life and have become too apathetic to look for solutions, or even to acknowledge fundamental causes.
We must not depend upon laws to keep us from harming one another, from killing one another, anymore than we depend on laws to make us love one another. Rather, each and every one of us has to take that responsibility on directly. We have the responsibility to dissolve the walls that we have built to divide us.
George Leonard Ellis, better known as Len, was named in the New Year Honours List 2021. Mr Ellis, of St Michael’s Church in Abergele, has been an active member of the Abergele community all his life. Aside from receiving the honour for services to young people and the community, he has been praised for his work with the Urdd movement and Eisteddfod. In 2017, he was presented with the Conwy County Urdd award mainly for accompanying folk dancing teams within the county and National Eisteddfod. Len, who is married to Eirlys, said: “I am delighted and humbled to have been nominated for this award. When I was first contacted by email and then by telephone, I assumed it was a scam. It took a lot of convincing by the cabinet office for me to believe them.