Eric Sevareid, a distinguished WW II correspondent who later became a highly respected commentator for CBS News, once said, “Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.”
The actions of Donald Trump leave little doubt that Savareid’s words mean nothing to him, or to his supporters who obviously don’t care what he does. The same can be said of Republican Senators Lindsay Graham and Marco Rubio and Vice-President Mike Pence.
Having spent the last year minimizing the coronavirus threat and supporting Donald Trump’s politicizing of CDC pandemic guidelines to slow the spread of the virus, each of them jumped to the front of the line to get the coronavirus vaccine.
In contrast, Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan announced he would not take the vaccine until all the health care workers and elderly in his state had received it.
Now that’s leadership. The other is raw hypocrisy. Hogan exemplified the Christmas spirit Sevareid was talking about. Graham, Rubio, and Pence acted like the Grinch who stole Christmas.
Add Republican Rep. Bob Good to the list. He represents the Virginia congressional district that includes my hometown. He recently praised a crowd of Republicans for not wearing masks and then told them that even if the coronavirus is real, the pandemic is a hoax. I bet money he will go to the front of the line whenever he gets the chance, just like his hypocritical colleagues.
Public figures like Larry Hogan remind us that a commitment to the common good means thinking of others instead of just yourself. Christmas is a good time for us to remember that, especially this year.
There are too many Americans who have either forgotten it or never believed it. That’s why they are putting themselves ahead of concern for others by insisting their individual rights are more important than CDC guidelines that have been proven to slow the spread of the virus.
Nobody who knows they are here for something besides themselves believes that.
Individual rights are core to who we are as a nation and guaranteed by the Constitution, but individual rights are not the whole story of our country. The rest of the story is that most of us believe the government exists for the good of all, not just individual rights. People who know they are not here just for themselves are willing to sacrifice to balance individual rights and the common good.
It is impossible to celebrate Christmas when you’re wrapped up in yourself. That is why Christmas this year is as somber as it is joyful for most Americans. We feel the loss of over 325,000 members of the American family and the grief their families are experiencing. How could we not? We have not seen the magnitude of deaths on a scale like this since WW II.
We are not a Christian nation, in my opinion a good thing for Christians and non-Christians alike, but Christmas is that one time of the year when all Americans are reminded of the great truth that being good neighbors is not simply a good thing, it is a big reason why we are here.
The word we give to this core value is love. It’s the candle we Christians light on the fourth Sunday of Advent year after year.
It’s easy to sentimentalize love, caring for others, living for something other than ourselves, but at the end of the day that is what life is about. We are born to be in community, as hard as it is sometimes to remember that.
There will always be hypocrites among us, self-centered people who rush to the front of the line, and leaders who try to set us against one another. But there are also people who without hesitation go to the back of the line because they know they are here for something besides themselves.
Everyone knows that 2020 has been a trying year, but it is ending as every year does, with the celebration of Christmas – whether as a Christian holy day or as a secular holiday – its message of love for one another, support for one another, commitment to one another rings as true today as it ever has.
In that spirit, I invite you to take a moment to listen to Neil Diamond’s last hit song before Parkinson’s Disease forced him into retirement, the title of which is, “We.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQZX9lLLn98 (click on the link or paste it into your browser)
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