Christmas message could help bring peace and unity
“Christmas should be a time of renewed hope — not hope in a particular political concept, but Christmas hope; Christian hope; hope in Jesus Christ; hope that, despite our tangled bungling, God will bring order out of chaos.” — The Rev. Billy Graham, 1969
What was going on in 1969 to evoke such a message from one of the nation’s premier religious leaders of the time — and one who was celebrated for his positive thinking?
Try a lengthy, unpopular war; street protests and riots; the targeting of law enforcement for violence as well as the need for police reforms in some areas; and the first year in the term of an unlikely president who relied on the support of a “silent majority.” Sounds familiar, but with new places and faces.
In 1969, a lot of folks worried that the United States might not be able to climb out of the pit of troubles it had seemingly dug for itself. But it did, just as it had been successful in overcoming even bigger threats many times before, including environmental disasters, depressions and recessions and civil and world wars.
In 2016, the United States seems to be facing quite a few of the same issues it did in 1969, and again many people are out in the streets, predicting the end of civil society as we have known it.
But we as a nation can once again pull together and remain the symbol of prosperity and freedom most of the world aspires to.
This Christmas, America might do well to remember a name cited by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah in what Christians believe is a hopeful passage about a Christmas yet to come: Immanuel — “God is with us.”
For Christians, that is the meaning of Christmas: “God is with us” came to be in a baby born in Bethlehem centuries ago, whose birth is celebrated today in the only national holiday of a religious nature.
Billy Graham’s 1969 message continues hopefully:
“In spite of all the pessimism and cynicism, in spite of all the headlines about murders, assassinations, riots, demonstrations and war, Jesus Christ is alive.”
For those who believe, the simple idea that “God is with us” is the message of hope.
And hope is one optimistic state that could help restore much needed peace and unity to the nation, no matter one’s belief system.