Grande: Where do we find hope?

It is my prayer that you are enjoying the blessing of family and friends this Christmas. The chance to disconnect from the rancor and division in our country, to take a break from the steady stream of bad news – at least for a little while.

Maybe my memory is selective, but I have happy memories of Christmas. Family, Christmas Eve candlelight services, music, family, and food, lots of food. Thoughts of diet and exercise were pushed away until January. It probably was not that simple, but that is what I remember.

Christmas offered the promise of unity, brotherhood, and family and we could use more of that today. Yes, there are important debates, important discussions, and decisions before us. We cannot avoid the conflicts we face today, but those conflicts will still be there tomorrow. We can make the effort to make good memories with family and friends.

I know, easier said than done. It is almost as if there are forces that keep us focused on division and hatred. As I was putting my thoughts together on this column for the paper published on Christmas day, I wanted to focus on the blessings of the season, but my thoughts were in competition with the news.

Last week President Biden said said “For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death — if you’re unvaccinated — for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm.” Not exactly a message of unity and hope. I do not know what is worse, that the president said this or that so many of our fellow Americans agree with him.

This past week a letter to the editor was posted saying the “COVID lion” culled the infirm from the herd in 2020 and in 2021 is going after the “stupid.” Can’t you just feel the Christmas spirit?

Also this week the European member states certified house crickets, yellow mealworms, and grasshoppers as food fit to be sold at supermarkets in response to rising inflation. This act followed on the heels of the World Economic Forum (the group behind the Great Reset) stating that people must get used to eating bugs and drinking beverages reclaimed from sewage. I don’t know about you, but I prefer visions of sugar-plums dancing in my head.

It can be overwhelming. We cannot ignore the death of common sense and the corruption of science by political agendas. But we also cannot forget the hope that we have and where do we find that hope?

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

A child is born, a son is given, that is our hope for the future, our hope for our children and grandchildren. May you and your families be blessed this Christmas and in 2022.

Click here to read more from Forum columnist Bette Grande.

Grande represented the 41st District in the N.D. Legislature from 1996 to 2014. She is CEO of the Roughrider Policy Center, an “innovation over regulation” think tank. She is a wife, mom, grandma, lover of life and Jesus. Opinions are solely her own.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum’s editorial board nor Forum ownership.

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