Letter to the editor: Take a moment of reflection during this Christmas season

In 1972 on Christmas Eve, the United States was in the process of dropping some 20,000 tons of bombs on two major cities in North Vietnam. President Nixon was trying to force an end to the war, and it did send the North Vietnamese to the peace table. Not long after that The Washington Post, ever an appeaser to anything that reeked of Communist tyranny, began bombing the Nixon administration with an entirely overblown story about a break-in at the Watergate Hotel. The rest is history, as they say.

Today is Christmas Eve 2024, and we have a president which The Wall Street Journal has recently revealed, thanks to 51 separate sources, has never actually been the president at all. And we have paid a bitter price to be led by an unknown group with ideas so far out of the mainstream of beliefs that it has led to the greatest political comeback of a former president in American history. Where we go from here is anybody’s guess. So, I could say, good luck to us!

But I don’t believe in luck. I actually believe in a God Who cares about us, all of us. And I believe that He knows the chaos which always comes long before it gets here. This same God of the universe allows nations to rise and fall. He has written His laws in our hearts and expects us to listen to our consciences. The point of Christmas in that He chose to come to us in the form of the Beloved Son to provide a path of forgiveness through trust in that Son. Whether we choose that path or not is left up to the freedom He also has given to our hearts.

I am very thankful He chose to reveal Himself to me in 1971. I have watched history unfold since then, trying to help people understand that He is real and that we cannot escape our appointment with Him. When I wish people a Merry Christmas, I really am hoping they will take a few moments to reflect upon the truths revealed in the second chapter of Luke. Perhaps this year, with all the uncertainty in our lives, it would repay us all to take those moments of reflection seriously. So, it is with that simple encouragement that I sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas!

JAMES R. CHANDLER JR.
Sumter