To many people, Christmas is an expression of great faith and optimism. To that end we should take a look at the reasons for that faith and optimism. To start off, we live in the world’s greatest country. Those who don’t think so are simply uninformed.
We are surrounded by fellow citizens whose core beliefs are completely compatible with well being and progress in all areas. Americans in general believe in the sanctity of human life, the equality of their fellow men, and that people should be judged by the quality of their character and nothing else.
Americans are the world’s great optimists.
Most of us feel that we are as good as anybody else and with hard work can succeed in anything we want to do or be. A grade-school teacher once pointed out to her class that the word American ends in the two words "I can."
Americans are also the first to help in time of distress. You can argue that our record is not perfect and point to omissions but our record is better than almost anybody else. For the most part, our lives, property and freedoms are fairly well protected and if not we can take steps to protect them or move out of harms way.
When things are wrong about America , Americans will eventually fix them.
One interesting thing about America is that when things are bad and you are down if you don’t give up and just hang in there and keep on plugging away things will usually get better.
On a local level, New Smyrna Beach is a great place to live and raise a family. People who have moved away have a strong tendency to move back in their later years when they have had time and opportunity to put things in perspective.
Naturally, there are many things that could be a lot better; there are a lot of things that just shouldn’t be and should be eliminated or changed and a lot of new things that need to be added.
However, a little reflection will make you realize that if things were perfect and there was nothing wrong, evil, or needed changing and improving in this world, life would be unbearably dull and meaningless.
Maybe our greatest gift is that we are in a position to do more to help and improve ourselves and the world than any other people on earth.