HOPE: QUALITY ENDURES PAST CHRISTMAS SEASON

Christmas arrives with a distinctive meaning for all people. For some, it can mean special gifts or festive gatherings or increased commerce. It is a time for family togetherness and remembrances of holidays gone by. More importantly, the holiday marks the greatest, most history-changing event of the Christian world. The birth of Jesus also symbolizes some basic principles of faith: peace on Earth, good will toward men. These are fitting and difficult times to consider those beliefs.

Peace on earth is a hard nut to crack. A year ago, people of the free world were celebrating the momentum of communism's erosion in Eastern Europe. In the months to follow, joy accompanied the rapid emergence of democratic principles and the steady demolition of barriers shielding that part of the world from global accord. Sustained harmony comes hard, however, when there are those driven by ego and aggression; Saddam Hussein headed off the era of good feeling in 1990 and has prodded many nations of the world, especially the United States, to the brink of war as our holiest holiday approaches.

Good will is also a formidable ambition. On the nation's streets, drugs still take their toll in human lives and damaged souls. Racism never seems to vanish from our midst, and human understanding appears at times to move contrary to general advancement of the human race. As technology has bloomed to purportedly improve our lives, we seem more harried, more self-absorbed than ever.

But there is a time of year when we are at our best, when we are capable of great generosity and bright disposition. The spirit of Christmas infects us; more than that, it stands as inspiration for what is possible for mankind. It is trite but true: Christmas needs to last beyond the Christmas season. If the principles of peace on Earth, good will toward men were considered with more vigor at other times of the year, our problems as humans would no doubt be less severe.

We bear no illusions in this holiday message. In reality, yule spirit seldom endures beyond the 12th month and that is a shame. What prevails, however, is the hope Christmas promises and delivers, like a present beneath a tree. We cling to this hope and pray our world will be a bit better with each Christmas to come.

The Southeast Missourian wishes you a nice holiday.