“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
I have noticed that a number of verses in the Bible are directed toward mankind as a whole in once instance, and at individuals
in another. The above verse does just that. It takes all mankind to find peace on earth, but the display of goodwill toward
men has to be done one person at a time.
We can each contribute towards peace, but none of us can achieve it on our own Only when the leaders of every nation, every
faith and every enterprise are devoted to peace can it be achieved. And in today’s world, far more of them are inclined
to using force to impose their ideas and systems on others. In spite of our best efforts, peace is unlikely.
Good will, on the other hand, depends entirely on our individual attitudes. Each of us who holds good will to others within
our hearts creates an island of good will. As we gather people of good will together, the island grows.
Now here is the hard part. Those who hold ill will tend to be very loud. A few instigators of hatred can create an level
of hatred that leaves us all with a chill in our hearts. Consider those who hide behind screen names to spew their venom into
the comment sections of the world’s thousands of web pages. They hurl insults, spew falsehoods, call down condemnations
and issue threats to those with whom they disagree. Then they double down on those who come to the defense of their victims.
I often see people who decry the choices we have in the elections for representatives and administrators in our government.
There are many people who would be excellent candidates who refuse to even consider running for elective office simply because
they do not want to face the vocal assaults of the haters.
If we want the best people to seek public service, then we must do our part to encourage and support them. Then those who
have nothing but good will towards men will be the ones who make the decisions about how to produce conditions that allow
us all to peace and prosperity.
This is the season of new beginnings, of reassessing our lives, of making new year resolutions. I hope those who are so
adamant in spewing forth their ill will and intolerance will reassess their conduct and make new year’s resolutions
to devote their energies to building good will toward men. If enough people will do that, then we have a better chance of
achieving peace on earth.