As we turn our hearts to the celebration of Christmas, it is refreshing to pause and appreciate the wisdom of the past.
President Harry S. Truman’s 1949 Christmas Eve address offers a message of unity and Christlike love for one another. Broadcast in connection with the lighting of the National Christmas Tree on White House grounds, Truman’s words resonate timelessly as we reflect on the birth of Christ as the “living link” between God and man.
We miss the spirit of Christmas if we consider the Incarnation as an indistinct and doubtful, far-off event unrelated to our present problems. We miss the purport of Christ’s birth if we do not accept it as a living link which joins us together in spirit as children of the ever-living and true God. In love alone—the love of God and the love of man—will be found the solution of all the ills which afflict the world today. Slowly, sometimes painfully, but always with increasing purpose, emerges the great message of Christianity: only with wisdom comes joy, and with greatness comes love.
In the spirit of the Christ Child—as little children with joy in our hearts and peace in our souls—let us, as a nation, dedicate ourselves anew to the love of our fellowmen. In such a dedication we shall find the message of the Child of Bethlehem, the real meaning of Christmas.
As Christian communicators, our platforms are dedicated to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. This Christmas, may the “living link” of Christ’s birth fill you with encouragement, inspiration, and hope for the good work at hand!
From all of us at NRB, Merry Christmas.
NRB’s offices will be closed December 24–25 and December 31–January 1.