This year, perhaps more than any other year in recent history, there is a special significance to the fact that the days are getting longer now. We have symbolically passed, perhaps, from some of our nation's darkest times and are finally seeing the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel." The past year has been a struggle for many (perhaps most) of us. We've experienced a global pandemic and an accompanying economic shutdown, civil unrest, and a contentious election (and we still do not fully know whether there will be a peaceful transition of power in our country). Please make no mistake, we are still in the midst of a raging pandemic. COVID-19 is completely out of control in several parts of our country. And yet, there is hope. And yet, there is hope.
Just this past week, the Food and Drug Administration authorized a second SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for emergency use. Health care workers around the country are smiling for the first time, perhaps in a long time, after receiving their vaccination. For the first time in a long time, we can start to see the end of the pandemic. Better days are ahead, and there is renewed hope for the future. The days are getting longer, and the Sun will shine again.
I was reminded of this renewed sense of hope by a post written by the author, Lindsay Chervinsky. Her latest book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution has been sitting on my nightstand waiting to be read. I may finally have an opportunity over the next couple of weeks to sit down and read it! Anyway, Chervinsky talked about another American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who used to deliver a series of evening radio addresses to the American public called his "Fireside Chats".
On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1943, FDR sat down at his desk at his home in Hyde Park to deliver Fireside Chat 27. He talked about his recent trip through the Mediterranean and Middle East and of his meetings with Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, and General Chiang Kai-Shek. He announced that General Dwight Eisenhower would be the new Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, and he hinted of the coming invasion at Normandy. About half way through his address, he paused to reflect on what the nation - really, what the world - had been through during the past year. He spoke of hope, a feeling of optimisim that maybe the world was turning a corner.
“And even this year, we still have much to face in the way of further suffering, and sacrifice, and personal tragedy…But, on Christmas Eve this year, I can say to you that at last we may look forward into the future with real, substantial confidence that, however great the cost, "peace on Earth, goodwill toward men" can be and will be realized and ensured. This year, I can say that. Last year, I could not do more than express a hope. Today, I express a certainty, though the cost may be high and the time may be long.
Within the past year, within the past few weeks, history has been made, and it is far better history for the whole human race than any that we have known, or even dared to hope for, in these tragic times through which we pass.”
I am sort of feeling the same way this holiday season. "...at last we may look forward into the future with real, substantial confidence" that better days are ahead. We see the light, and we hope for the coming end to the pandemic.
I can't imagine a better message to send during this holiday season.
May the blessings and peace of this season be with all of you.
Derek
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