Christmas 2024 brings many memories to mind, some fun and some poignant, that make me question where mankind goes from here and what will the future look like as a people here in America, long after I’m dead and gone. With decades of the “Christmas Spirit” behind me, it’s hard to see any real good in mankind, holistically speaking, and despite our ecstatic claims of being so civilized, most of my lifetime has revealed that the human race isn’t really much more that a steady, ebbing flow of beings constantly doing great harm to one another, no matter all the false pious “Christians” who too often profess they represent our better angels in the same breath they cheat, rob, bear false witness against or murder someone in cold blood for self-gain.

Yes, as bad as I hate to admit it, I suppose my life’s journey has turned me into a cynic. In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed too many men and women of supposed “honor” do great harm to another in one form or fashion, when it need not have been so, and it always made my stomach churn with anger and left a bad taste in my mouth. I could list scores of such instances, but it’s not necessary, since I’m certain those of you who have lived long enough already know the truth behind these words.

I can already hear the loud protestations rising up as many will exclaim, “I really am a ‘good Christian’ and I have the good works behind me to prove it”. Well yes. I suppose there truly are some who have taken The Word and lived it to the fullest extent of their capability, with all their heart, but much more important than good works is the need for men and women of all walks of life to simply learn to do no harm as they go about the daily business of living, whether one believes in Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the One True God or not.

Just as a matter of full disclosure here, I guess I’m no real shining paragon of Christianity. I try. Lord knows I try. But I’ve always struggled with the commandment to forgive those who trespass against us and turning the other cheek. I’m the sort of Christian who will give you the shirt off his back if you really need it and help you raise a barn or bring in a crop as a favor and then crack someone’s skull or break a man’s jaw for crossing me the wrong way, taking my own lumps along the way. But I do try hard, even though I fail quite a bit.

And that’s precisely the reason that God sent His only Son to earth in human form. He had to suffer as a man on earth and sacrifice His life and shed His blood on the Cross, in order to pave the way for Man’s Salvation, “… that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” [John 3:15 KJV]. He knew we couldn’t live completely faithful and in compliance with every single one of His commandments.

As noted in Ecclesiastes 7:20 [KJV]:

“For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

If you want a glimpse at the future of any nation, simply look at how that nation treats its women and children.

One day in the not-too-distant future, the world awakens to a reality and a new existence – perhaps – where men and women live without envy, greed, lechery, irrational anger and the general abuse of others.

It’s a truly civilized world that has built a society that doesn’t make it necessary for a seven-year-old girl to hawk roses on the streets of New York City, or any town or city in America for that matter, just to be able to eat each day, and it did this not through the Leviathan and some massive government program that caused more harm than good but by becoming better people, who truly did listen to their better angels and helped one another wherever and whenever they could. And it has made certain no child in America is going to bed hungry every night and that every child does, in fact, have a warm, safe, comfortable bed and home to lie down in each night.

It’s a new world and a new day, where fathers don’t rape their preteen daughters and uncles don’t rape their nieces, and a society that really does value, cherish, protects and defends its women. It’s a world where mothers don’t give in to perverse delusions and force sex changes on their young children who sometimes haven’t even begun school.

It’s a society that has eradicated the sexual abuse of young boys by its clergy and “youth leaders”, a people who really do treat their children as treasures and the future of a nation.

It’s a brighter, happier world in which fathers control their tempers and don’t throw eight-year-old boys across a room to dislocate or break arms and legs; or slaps them away from the table for the crime of using their fork improperly — a society that has learned how to break the cycle so often passed from father to son over several generations.

This world rejects mothers and fathers pimping their children out as a means to acquiring their basic needs. Prepubescent and teenage children are no longer trafficked for forced labor and the sexual pleasure of deviants, freaks and perverts by the millions each year.

And in this world, men and women take their marriage vows seriously and stay true within the confines of their marriages. Young mothers don’t cheat on their husbands when he’s working out of town or let their boyfriend beat their tiny toddler black and blue from head to toe, almost killing him, and in many cases doing just that — taking the breath from his little body and sending his soul to God.

There’s a special place in Hell for child abusers, I’m sure.

Matthew 18: 2-6 [KJV] reads:

“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanges about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

As I rejoice over the birth of Jesus Christ this year and the Salvation He brought to mankind, if only they believe and ask for forgiveness of their sins, I also offer the prayer that He makes my imaginary future world our new reality soon, however it may come about. I pray for a world in which all men and women live and let live and do no harm to anyone.

I also recall one of my favorite movies, starring Sidney Poitier, about a man who stays true to his word, his faith and God – ‘Lilies of the Field‘, which contains one of the most uplifting spiritual hymns one will ever wish to hear. It left a lasting impression with me as a young boy, who had never missed a Sunday or Wednesday night at church until I was thirteen. I hope Y’All enjoy it as a bit of respite from the ugly world we face each day, each waking morning.

Amen – Amen – Amen…

December 15, 2024

~ The Author ~
Justin O. Smith has lived in Tennessee off and on most of his adult life, and graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1980, with a B.S. and a double major in International Relations and Cultural Geography – minors in Military Science and English, for what its worth. His real education started from that point on. Smith is a frequent contributor to the family of Kettle Moraine Publications.