Notes by Gert's Royals are in [brackets.]
Invisible hands assist us, writes Jon Fosse, our own Nobel Prize winner in literature, in one of his poems. These invisible hands can be so many different things: Love, friendship, a belief in God, will, hope.
[Norwegian author, Jon Fosse was the 2023 Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature. Jon Fosse lives in "Grotten", the Norway’s honorary residence for artists, and was appointed Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 2005. The quote is from Jon Fosse's poem Invisible Hands (Usynlege Hender)].
We all need some invisible hands. And many of us need them a little extra now. Both here at home and in the world around us.
Tonight I want to encourage you to light candles.A light for all who suffer in wars and conflicts.A light for people we miss.And a light for hope.
Hope that a better world, where we can all live in freedom and peace with each other, must be possible. Hope that what is difficult in our lives must become a little easier to live with.
For me, there is a defiant hope in this one word: We.
"We" is a small, but spacious and beautiful word. For us, it embraces us all. It is the opposite of us and them. The opposite of putting each other in boxes.
Together, we contribute to creating a good environment at school, at the workplace and in our local environment. Together, we have agreed that in Norway we must take care of each other, so that we all have the opportunity both to give and to receive during our lives. Together we create an understanding of right and wrong, so that we can behave properly towards each other and take care of the trust between us.
To bring about this community for real, we need
To listen
To speak the truth about reality
To be patient.
I strongly believe in listening. Listening gives hope for a community with room for everyone. Because something magical can happen when we actually listen to each other.
We will be seen.
We are taken seriously.
We straighten our backs.
It is almost too simple and good to be true! And it's something we all can achieve.
It worries me that many young people, but also older people in Norway today, do not feel seen, understood and counted on. I'm afraid it will create anger and frustration that could damage our community.
To each and every one of you I want to say: I don't know what it's like to be you. But I would very much like to understand. Hold on to the fact that you are a whole person for better or worse, like everyone else - especially when others forget to remind you.
Accept help when you need it.
And be helpful to others when you can.
I hope you feel that invisible hands are assisting you. Maybe not always. But that you have something or someone that gives you strength and hope. Remember you have a voice. Use it when you can!
Listening is connected with speaking the truth about what has happened, and acknowledging each other's reality.
It was also a prerequisite for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's work, which was presented this summer. There, shocking stories were told about the injustice committed against the Sami, Kven and Forest Finns through the brutal policy of Norwegianization - which lasted from around 1850 until well into our time.
[The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a government commission established by Parliament in 2018. The commission investigated the experiences of the aboriginal people (Sámi and Kven/Norwegian Finnish Peoples). Norwegianization was a official policy to assimilate aboriginal people into an ethnically and culturally uniform Norwegian population.]
People were deprived of their language, their culture, their self-confidence and their identity. For some, it cost them their lives.
And all this was done in the name of nation-building - in a Norway that at the time itself needed to build self-confidence as a nation after 400 years of Danish rule. The Norwegianization was a loss for all of us.
[The 400 years of Danish Rule refers to the union of Denmark & Norway, where the two countries shared a monarch.]
A loss of a cultural wealth that belonged - indeed belongs - in our own country. Looking with open eyes at what has actually happened is crucial for the reconciliation work that must now follow in the wake of the important [Truth and Reconciliation Commission] report.
This also applies to other relationships in life - and in conflicts in the world around us. We must acknowledge what has happened, what cannot be undone. And what we have to build on together - after all.
Listening, and speaking honestly, I think is therefore essential for a community. And then we need that hard patience.
I've lived long enough to know that things take time. Both in society, between people, and in ourselves. A great deal of lasting value has no quick fix. It has taken us generations to build the society we know today as ours, of which we are proud and feel at home.
A foundation in building society is about how equipped we are as a people and a nation to face dangers and threats. Both internal and external. Our most important protection is a robust and persistent people who can withstand a blow.
We cannot take peace and freedom, resources and common goods for granted. We must stand guard! Norway's preparedness is, when it comes down to it, the sum of each individual's resilience.
We build on this positive force all the time through good partnerships. Through strong local communities. By standing up for each other, in the belief that there is a common good. It gives me great hope, because this is something we can all be part of. Both with invisible and active hands.
But then there are areas where the last thing we need is more patience.
Many young people write to me and express concern that not enough is being done to take care of nature and our earth. Young people are giving up on adults who don't take strong enough action, and not fast enough. I share the young people's concern and their impatience. The hope is that the new goals that World Leaders have set must be followed by action.
["New goals that World Leaders have set" is a reference to COP28, the 28th annual UN Climate Change Conference that was held in the UAE. At the conference an agreement was signed by regarding climate change.]
We now need everyone's impatience before time runs out for us.
I cannot express this strongly enough.
Dear everyone,
When it's cold and dark, it's important to remember all the warmth, strength and good will that we humans share with each other on a daily basis.
It is natural for us to help each other. To comfort. Sharing.
We must cherish this good spark within ourselves.
Because this is us, this is us.
My New Year's hope is that we will be the invisible hands that hire each other.
Happy New Year!
