The views and opinions expressed in this editorial article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of Salina Post or Eagle Media. The editorial is intended to stimulate critical thinking and debate on issues of public interest and should be read with an open mind. Readers are encouraged to consider multiple sources of information and to form their own informed opinions.
By: SCOTT HILL
24th District Kansas Senator
I want to wish each of you a happy Christmas and a blessed New Year! World history shows that humans for millennia have celebrated the solar cycle that promises that days will start to get longer. Recently I saw an article that downplayed Christmas as just another “winter solstice” holiday. While each individual can celebrate any holiday of their own choosing, it is important to realize that our nation chose to celebrate the specific holiday of Christmas. In the midst of all of the parties with eating, drinking, and gift giving, the term Christmas has an actual meaning.
The “Christ mass” is a religious service that recognizes the birth of Jesus Christ. Starting in the year 336 AD the Roman government decided to celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th. Since that time some cultures have celebrated on other days around the 25th. There is no reliable record of the date of his actual birth, so an appropriate recognition day was selected. History does record that Jesus, unlike the mythology of other celebrations, is an actual, real person.
Our nation recognizes the difference that Christianity has made on people’s lives. The concept of having holidays that cause us to pause in our busy lives and remember what supersedes the immediate and takes us to a focus on what is truly important, is a credit to our country.
The words of our 33rd President Harry S. Truman, who dealt with his share of real-life tragedy, are meaningful yet today, “We miss the spirit of Christmas if we consider the Incarnation as an indistinct and doubtful, far-off event unrelated to our present problems. We miss the purport of Christ’s birth if we do not accept it as a living link which joins us together in spirit as children of the ever-living and true God. In love alone—the love of God and the love of man—will be found the solution of all the ills which afflict the world today.”
I encourage you to look to the future with hope and the primacy of that hope is a God who reached down to mankind to change the trajectory of our hearts.
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