TAHLEQUAH —
As the Christmas season approaches its climax and the end of 2012 draws near, it’s a good time to reflect on the state of our world, nation, state and community, and to think about ways we might make it better in 2013.
Even those who aren’t Christians – and who are instead adherents of another religion, or of no religion at all – can appreciate the “reason for the season.” That’s a bit of a worn and trite phrase, but it’s also apropos. Though Dec. 25 is unlikely to be the precise date on which Jesus Christ was born, it nevertheless symbolizes a cornerstone of the faith: a vigil and a quest for the coming of peace and goodwill, justice and harmony, the reaching out to others in sacrificial love, and the salvific purging of all evil from our presence.
We need look no further than last Friday’s deadly shootings in Connecticut to understand we’re far from these lofty goals. Even as the entire country mourns the incomprehensible loss of innocent victims, many out there are using this national tragedy to further their own purposes. Some politicians who have cried out against the circumstances that led to the killing of four adult diplomats – who had understood the risks of putting themselves into a war zone – now stand silent in the conversation on how to curb the rise of mass slayings on our soil. Several for-profit scams using the emotional impact of the school shooting have been reported.
Meanwhile, in other news, politicians hold steady in their 11th-hour game of brinkmanship over the federal budget, when all they need do to serve 98 percent of their constituents is firm up the tax cuts for the middle class, and go back to work on other matters come the first of the year. The meth scourge continues to rip families apart and generate crimes across the spectrum. Predatory behavior, like molestation, seems to go on unabated. Neighbors don’t trust neighbors anymore, and even when they do, they are blind to the basic needs of those around them.
Those last couple of paragraphs may sound fatalistic, and clash with the Christmas message. But in fact, that’s the point. Even at the lowest marks in the cycle of history, and even in our blackest hours, Christmas points to not so much the winter birth of a particular baby somewhere in the Judean desert, but to the hope that birth brings with it.
It’s easy to pay lip service to Christmas ideals, but far more difficult to put them into action. It’s also difficult for us to take a hard look at society’s problems, and to acknowledge that children are usually the ultimate victims. The ones who died in Connecticut, while among the most tragic, are, in a sense, the tip of the iceberg.
If you can do one thing for one person today – if you can “pay it forward,” as the currently in-vogue phrase has it – then you should do it. And because of the very nature of Christmas, if you can only do something for one person, consider making that person a child.
While many of us sit down to family feasts Dec. 25, millions of children will listen to their bellies rumble. Thousands of those hungry children are right here in Oklahoma. They’ll have no gifts awaiting them under a tree with twinkling lights. They may be victims of abuse or neglect, or they may simply be the byproduct of an economic system that grinds the poor under the wheels of the ever-upwardly mobile super-wealthy.
You still have time to pluck an angel from a tree, to find out what your less-fortunate neighbors need, to ask your pastor about needy members of your congregation. You still have time to write a check to one of our local charities that works daily to make better lives for human beings: Help-In-Crisis, CASA, Hope House, Project Osiyo, Habitat for Humanity, and others. Or you can simply give someone a bit of your time – a helping hand, a listening ear, or a hug and a kind word.
You don’t have to be a Christian to practice the Golden Rule, which is a tenet basic to humankind since time out of mind. It’s not the “season to be jolly” for everyone, but you can make it more so by doing your part.
Editorials
Honoring the best meaning of Christmas
- Editorials
-
-
Welcoming our visitors to town
In just a few days, visitors will be pouring into Cherokee County, as the Memorial Day weekend officially ushers in the local tourist season. For some of us, that means it’s time to batten down the hatches; for others, it’s time for the cash registers to start ringing.
-
Phone record debacle an insult to press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
-
Punishing the animal dumpers
Animal dumping is not a problem unique to Cherokee County, but anyone who’s been keeping up with current events for the past decade or so will acknowledge it’s especially prevalent here.
-
Openness on AG the right course
It takes courage to admit to a serious mistake or a personal lapse, especially when the nature of the situation may call for a public mea culpa.
-
Legislative action not encouraging
It’s outrageous to advance the argument that it’s “fair” for Chesapeake Oil to wind up with a negative tax bill – lower than the average Oklahoman paid last year. Yet that’s precisely the message some of that company’s protectors in the state Legislature are trying to convey.
-
Cast your ballot for ‘At Its Best’
May has arrived, and that means folks will be relishing their upcoming trips over the Memorial Day weekend to Lake Tenkiller and the Illinois River. Before that, families with 12th-graders in their households will be making plans to watch their children make the monumental transition that graduation brings.
-
Corporations shouldn’t have ‘people’ status
Since the Supreme Court made its fateful 2010 decision in the Citizens United case, most Americans have come to agree with the cynical statement that “corporations aren’t people.” And most Americans – except that tiny fraction who wield all the power – would approve of a constitutional amendment to make it tougher to buy a congressman.
-
Anti-texting bill still needs look
A bill that would have banned texting while driving was shot down for the third and presumably final time this legislative session, and we can’t say we’re surprised.
-
Red Fern a great family fun event
By the time many of you read this, you’ll already be just hours away from milling around, or kicking back in your lawn chairs, at Norris Park. Some of you might already be downtown before your paper arrives.
-
Progress set to print Sunday
Sporadic readers will want to pick up a copy of the Sunday, April 21 Daily Press. It will contain the first “wave” of our annual Progress edition.
- More Editorials Headlines
-
Welcoming our visitors to town
Raw: Aerials Show Path of Oklahoma Destruction
Raw: Widespread Destruction in Moore, Okla.
Raw: Massive Funnel Clouds in Oklahoma
Raw: Japan's WWII Atrocities Under Fire in Seoul
Voters Could Elect LA's First Female Mayor
Raw: Rescuers Pull Tornado Survivors to Safety
Oklahoma Gov: 'Hearts Are Broken' After Tornado
Raw: Walking in a Flattened Okla. Neighborhood
Raw: Rescue Workers Search Oklahoma School
Raw: Witness Describes Scene After Okla. Tornado
Raw: Aftermath of Massive Tornado in Oklahoma
Raw: House Burns After Massive Oklahoma Tornado
Raw: Tornado on the Ground in Oklahoma
Split-second Choice Ended With NY Student Dead
White House Backs 'Shield Law' for Media
Wave of Attacks Kills Scores in Iraq
Pug Life on Display at Wisconsin Festival
Company Promises to Make All Snail Mail Digital
Analyst: Tumblr Fills Void in Yahoo's Offerings
