December is such a contradictory month.
At times, it teems with the hope that some of the world’s religions offer during some of the most light-starved days of the year – at least in this part of the Earth.
It’s when many folks dig deep into pockets and hearts to help them reconnect with certain truths, such as generosity and peace. Truths that are timeless, yet easily forgotten, especially when the summer sun shines bright.
It’s the paradox of December that revival comes now.
And so it was for me, too, as I recently prepared to set holiday work schedules, complete performance reviews and make preliminary plans for 2008 news coverage endeavors.
Here, during December, I found myself returning to the source of inspiration that captured my heart when I was a young girl and still helps me understand today why I do what I do.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
For decades now, I’ve marveled how in one swoop the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America intertwines the freedoms of religion, speech, the press and assembly into a unified strand of protection for expression.
The truths behind these protections have been, more than a few times, a guiding light in laying a particular course in a particular direction.
So, as snow glistens on the barren branches of South Dakota trees, it’s comforting to remember right about now that these protections are near.
Even in rereading these hallowed words, I’m still struck that the journalist’s journey and religion’s journey find common ground in the very first of constitutional amendments.
I first became a journalist in 1989, and I’ve been a minister since 1996, so people often ask me how I became involved in two seemingly disparate endeavors. To many, one seems so independent of the other.
In my opinion, though, it’s the same journey – one of seeking truth and sharing the discoveries with those who are willing to hear. And I certainly haven’t been the first journalist in the world to express this mission as its own type of calling. Nor the only minister to perceive that role as a herald.
So if the spiritual truths that are celebrated during December have any enduring impact, even when January rolls around, then they often are witnessed during our public and private encounters with each other – whether in business, government or anywhere else.
And the truth lodged within the First Amendment’s protections understands how important it is to fairly, accurately – and without prohibition – express what’s happening among us, if only to at least double-check if we’re on the track that we intend to be.
I get it that few people deem the journalist’s work as noble. And maybe much of that is the fault of we journalists.
But as December’s days begin fading away, I can hear these words echoing their own type of refrain:
Congress shall make no law ...
Congress shall make no law ...
Congress shall make no law ...
And the stars are brightly shining.
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