It’s really been a pleasant Christmas season for Sweet Home.
The Capitol Christmas Tree experience was heart-warming for many, and we’ve heard a lot of comments to that effect from our readers – no exaggeration.
This was a really big deal for us.
As anyone who’s read last week’s edition could probably tell from our reports about the Sweet Home delegation’s trip to our nation’s capital, they had some great opportunities to raise our community’s profile with people in the seats of power.
As journalists with a combined 60-ish years of experience in public affairs, we know that when opportunities like this present themselves, it’s time to engage. And Sweet Home did.
This was the real deal, and it got more real as we went along.
What was most heart-warming was the local public spirit that evidenced itself as the process went along.
Sweet Home citizens contributed many of the 10,000 ornaments that accompanied the big tree and the 80-some smaller ones back to the capital. They produced tree skirts that adorn those trees in congressional offices and other public places. They showed up, en masse, at the parade and tree-signing celebration.
When we talk about the Christmas spirit, a lot of us are referring to the celebration of good cheer, gift giving, warm relationships, home and hearth and all that.
Well, we’ve enjoyed a bit of that during this process, and we hope it lasts. We hope that the remarkably high level of enthusiasm and community spirit we’ve seen during the process of choosing, cutting and shipping the nation’s Christmas tree can continue. If we can do it this year, why not find ways to establish it as a pattern for our town? Something to consider.
In the midst of all of this, though, we suggest there’s more to this season. It’s incumbent on us to not become so focused on the community vibe, genuine as it has been, that we ignore or forget what else Christmas represents.
We don’t think anyone would disagree that this has been a rough year, with a lot of turmoil in our nation and in our world. Though we enjoy peace and safety, for the most part, here in America and, particularly, in our community, we all know there’s discord, uncertainty and outright evil in our world.
That’s when we should think of shepherds sitting on a dark hillside in Palestine 2000 years ago, who were told by an angel about the birth of “a Savior, Christ the Lord,” whose arrival was specifically to came to deal with the problem of the sin that lies behind all the discord, uncertainty and outright evil.
Christmas goes beyond the warm fuzzies that we enjoy during this season, with the truly beautiful trees and decorations that we enjoy, or even the warmth of fellowship and family.
It’s a time to remember Christ Jesus the Lord.
Merry Christmas!