Page 20 2025 Worship Guide LINCOLN DAILY NEWS December 2025 This is the earliest I can remember in a long time when I have been in the "Christmas Spirit." Usually, I don't really want to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but this year Halloween wasn't even over yet and I had already been thinking about Christmas, looking forward to all of the things that this joyful holiday entails. I'm not sure why, but I am thankful that I am less "Grinchy" or "Scroogy" this year already! We certainly need this special holiday season to roll around. We certainly need to hear the peace-filled message of the angels right about now. The beauty of Christmas can't come soon enough! I know you have noticed this need too, in the midst of such troubling times in our nation and world. It is so easy to be exposed to, or participate in, divisive speech, hateful speech, or antagonistic speech, predominately but not limited to politics. I will admit that I can be a talk radio or podcast "junkie." This is not usually the best use of my time, although I have found a few podcasts that build up my mind and soul. Unfortunately, most of what I hear these days through the airwaves or through "the cloud," dehumanizes the opposition. Name calling is classless and unimpressive enough... but what I have been hearing lately is just plain hateful. Those we disagree with, our fellow Americans, and fellow human beings made in God's Image, are labeled as enemies, as animals, as scum, as less than human. Obviously, we have always had divisions in our country, and we should. We are thankful that we are not all carbon copies of one another. But with the advent of social media, podcasts, the internet, and other means by which we send and receive information, our differences have been highlighted, trumpeted, and broadcast to an unimaginable degree, and not always in a healthy and civil way. Goodwill Toward Men!
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