Posted on 12/22/2004 4:37:45 PM PST by zeugma
In Hoc Anno Domini
When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.
Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so. But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression -- for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?
There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?
Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.
And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.
So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.
But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.
Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.
And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
This editorial was written in 1949 by the late Vermont Royster and has been published annually in the Wall Street Journal since.
This year, I dedicate it to the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, who are trying to bring the light of freedom to that corner of the world.
God Bless You All.
I've enjoyed reading that every year.... Thank you, for posting it so many who do not get the WSJ can still enjoy and remember what Christmas is truly about....
I love this editorial too. Merry Christmas, and God bless
Saul of Taursus persecuted those that believed in Jesus before he accepted him as his Savior (Acts 9). Christ came to forgive our sins, so that we may walk in the light.
There will come a time and place when those trying to persecute Christians now, will pray that God will forgive them.
I didn't realize the ACLU has been around that long.
I've never read that before. I like it. Merry Christmas!
beautiful, thank you,
Merry Christmas and may God Bless us everyone
bttt
This editorial, reprinted every year, always reminds me a bit of Linus' instruction on the true meaning of Christmas from the Peanuts' Christmans Special:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them,
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
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.
Luke 2:8-14
BTW, the editors at CBS had a fit over this scene when it debuted in 1965. Charles Schultz to them to stick it. The special was going to air the way he intended or not at all. I believe his will reflects that they can never air it with this scene missing. The Charlie Brown Christmas Special, aired annually on December 1st, is always among the highest rated broadcasts in the month of December.
Our priest asked me to read it the first year and I decided to learn it by heart rather than read it.
As my school-teacher Mother always says, "If you memorize something you will forget it. If you learn it by heart you will always keep it with you."
Merry Christmas to you too.
I've often wondered why the powers that be continued to air the Charlie Brown Christmas Special unedited for so long. We have our own recording so it gets watched frequently during the year (mostly me.) Thank you for the information and the link. A very Merry Christmas and joyous New Year to you!
Merry Christmas, but I must add, the whole of the known world was not in bondage, controlled by Rome.
This year and this election has given me a lot of hope. We CAN take the country back. I think the Great Depression did a lot of damage to our nation's brain. And some of the medicine was worse than the cure. But devout Christians and Jews alike helped found this country. My favorite Founding Father (and a guy whose grave I walked past every day on my way to my job at the WTC) Alexander Hamilton was part Jewish. This has and never will be about Christians and Jews, as the MSM is so found of coloring it. This is about religious people getting fed up with how special interest groups have perverted the so-called Constitutional separation of church and state.
As far as Saint Paul was concerned, it was.
I don't think that Paul was as ignorant as you suspect. Most folks knew of Asia and many of Britian and the eastern European countries not conquered. The proper response to my comment is "You're right, I exaggeradted."
You're right of course, when someone has to exaggerate to make their point more important we should just let them wallow in their ignorance. What was I thinking with that nitpiking. I have e-mailed the owner to enact a rule against it with you as the moderator. Thanx for the enlightenment.
I see it's not the "known" world, it's the non-barbarian world. Thanx for not nitpiking.
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