Gwinnett County Fire Chief Bill Myers greeted our Citizen Fire Academy class Thursday evening with a little talk about the Values that are important to the Fire Department.
“Our Mission,” he said (and there was a handout, too), “is to Save Lives and Protect Property. Our Vision is to Deliver the Highest Quality of Service to all Customers, and the Values we hold as vital to our department are Truth, Trust, Respect, and Unity.” He pointed overhead, where four flags hung from the classroom ceiling.
A blue one to our left said TRUTH, a green one said TRUST, an orange flag said RESPECT, and a red one carried the word UNITY. He gave a little speech about how those particular colors were chosen. I don’t recall why blue was chosen for Truth, but Trust was on a green flag because in the deepest, coldest part of winter, we trust that spring (green) will come. Orange represented the school colors of the number 1 school in Gwinnett County, which has an excellent school system, and Unity was on a red flag, because fire trucks (the symbol that unifies the whole department) are red.
I raised my hand and said, “Did you know that you inadvertently chose chakra colors that were appropriate?”
He didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.
I explained that the ancient system of explaining the energy of the body assigns red as the color of the first chakra, which represents community, foundation, unity. The second chakra (orange) is where creativity is centered in our bodies (and certainly where we must have respect for ourselves). The green chakra is number four, the heart chakra--and it is in our hearts that we must feel trust; when we’re open-hearted, trust flows out. Finally, the fifth chakra, represented by the color blue, is the throat chakra, the place in the body from which we speak our truth.
Isn’t it amazing that a department with a budget of $76 million a year, which employs 845 men and women, and serves a county of over 800,000 people, from 30 strategically placed fire stations, subconsciously built its value statement on an ancient tradition for health and healing?
I think it’s wonderful indeed.
BEEattitude for Day #522:
Blessed are those who tap into ancient wisdom, for they shall be whole.
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The teeny details:
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