“It was the best of times and it was the worst of times”- – these words spoke of the time of the French Revolution, of times of great triumph over adversities and the imposition of great evil on the population on France.
But could we not say that of our times, also? Mankind, since the creation of the world, has always had it heroes and its villains. There have been seasons of peace and times of war, times of grief and times of jubilation
Christmas should be a time of joy, of family, of faith. And it has been for millions of people around the world. We, here in the small town of Paris, Illinois, just celebrated Christmas Eve in churches around town. Our church was filled for a spiritual feast of song, of laughter, of fellowship, of love. It was the high point of the week for the hundreds who gathered in the various churches in town.
Twin Lakes park has an annual display of signs erected by churches, businesses, organizations and individuals to commemorated the season and those not with us this year. At night, to drive through the park, is to experience a sense of community and togetherness in a small town.
Families were gathering to celebrate with each other and reconnect with each other. Our family had a Christmas Eve get together in which we exchanged gifts, laughter and love. Mostly it was an opportunity to welcome another member to our home, baby Mavis, who was having her first Christmas at four months of age.
Our Christmas Eve service at church also had family members attending with many parishioners, and some Parisians will travel to other locales to again celebrate with their kin away from here. Perhaps some of the inhabitants of our small city will look back on Christmas and feel that it was “the best of times”.
But our world also experiences the worst of times this season. Our news agencies give us the information of ‘wars and rumors of war’ around the globe. Russia is threatening one of their neighbors; they have over 100,000 troops on the border of Ukraine amid rumors of an imminent invasion. China continues to threaten Taiwan with a takeover of that small island nation. The Chinese still are using the Uyghurs as slave laborers and have more than a million of this Muslim minority in concentration camps.
The Wuhan coronavirus still rages worldwide, killing (according to some) millions across the globe. Another variant of the virus, the Omicron, is raging in African nations, and has reached other continents, including North America. Although it seems to be less lethal than earlier forms, it has caused much fear in many in our nation and in the world. So far, over 800,000 have died with COVID-19 in the U. S. To combat the new strain of the virus, some states have reinstituted mask mandates, and the federal government is mandating that most in the public sector and many in the private sector of our economy become vaccinated in order to keep their jobs.
Politically, it continues to be the ‘worst of times’. Democrats and Republicans continue to be at each other’s throats, with leaders using heated and false rhetoric aimed at their opponents. Truth seems to be forgotten by both sides in the quest for power over the controls of government.
Inflation is eating up people’s disposable incomes, with some now wondering how to feed, clothe and house their families. Most economists do not feel that it will get better for some time, and with the ruling Democrats wanting to flood the economy with more trillions of dollars, the future does not look promising for improvement.
Each day the news is filled with stories of crime. Our large cities have become the killing fields of America. More than a dozen cities have seen record numbers of its citizens killed by their fellow citizens. Major crime statistics have soared across the board.
We have seen the effort to divide Americans along racial lines. Critical Race Theory pits whites versus blacks. Many of our schools are teaching ideas that do not align with the values of parents. The federal government has labeled those who protest what is happening in the schoolrooms as ‘domestics terrorists’.
Our southern border leaks worse than a defective sieve. Nearly two million illegal aliens have come into our country, causing much financial and other harm to those who live in the border states, and with the feds sending many to places in the interior, more U. S. citizens are at risk from these ‘unknown’ illegal aliens.
Many more examples can be used to show how our nation and world is experiencing the ‘worst of times’, yet this is how it has been since those words were written about the French Revolution. Bad times come and go, but much good has happened and keeps happening.
Always, at this time of year, we see the ‘best of times’, and that is shown by the story of the first advent, the birth of Christ. In spite of the horrors of modern times, we see the Hope of the world, the birth of the One who can lift our spirits, dispel the clouds and give us the assurance that in spite of the world’s condition, we can not only survive, but thrive. Look to the star of Bethlehem, and you will see that for you and yours it can be called the ‘best of times’ because of His birth, life and sacrificial death.