2015 has been a hard year. We have suffered through the slaughter that occurred in a black church in Charleston, SC where members were gathered for prayer and fellowship. We have learned of the many accounts of violence inflicted on black males by police officers charged to protect the public, not to harm, yet harm was done. We have Donald Trump aspiring to be the President of the USA, creating division and strife against racial and religious groups that is pure demagoguery. Recently, we have been horrified by the images of the slaughter in Paris where people were enjoying the simple pleasures of attending a concert and dining out with friends and family. And there was another terrorist attack in San Bernardino, CA where colleagues and family members had joined together at an office ChrIstmas party to celebrate the holiday. The media is full of emotional images telling the story of the shocked and despairing Mid-East refugee. Refugees fleeing for their lives while desperately dependent upon the the hospitality of strangers that might understand their plight and open their arms to receive them. Sadly, governments are not so compassionate, nor understanding.
It has been a hard year.
Unintentionally, I’m sure, Apple and Microsoft created from my perspective, a heart warming “sermon” for us in their recent Christmas commercials. They remind us in the face of these harsh realities that there are good human relationships, there is goodwill, even to strangers, and we do have love in this world.
In this season our hopes and dreams are for a world that, in the words of Stevie Wonder, is a world where:
"Someday at Christmas we'll see a land
With no hungry children, no empty hands
One happy morning people will share
A world where people care".
-Stevie Wonder
Perry Miller, Editor
perrymiller@gmail.com
Microsoft Commercial
Apple Commercial