Remarks on Lighting the
National Christmas Tree
Merry
Christmas, Joe, and a very Merry Christmas to all! Nancy and I are together
with you in celebration and reflection -- celebration of the great miracle
nearly 2,000 years ago that brought the Christ child to us and reflection on
the great gifts He has bestowed upon us.
Christmas
casts its glow upon us, as it does every year. And it reminds us that we need
not feel lonely because we are loved, loved with the greatest love there has
ever been or ever will be. In the bustle and rush of daily life, we sometimes
forget how very much we have and how much we have to thank God for providing --
for things as beautiful as a winter snow or babies who will be seeing their
first Christmas, seeing the wonder of its beauty in their eyes. And, yes, from
the poorest among us to the most fortunate, we are all blessed.
Christmas reminds us, as well, that He taught
us all we need to know about caring for our fellow man and to take
responsibility for the very condition of the world. Thus we must reflect: We
must ever reflect upon the love we have for others and the joy we take in
giving of ourselves to those who are less fortunate. From those who must depend
on charity to see that their children receive a Christmas present to the tragic
victims of famine and earthquake worldwide, we know what it is we must do and
how ennobling an experience it is to have done it.
We
Americans live with bounties that those who lived at the time of the Christ
child's birth could never have imagined. The bounties are material, yes, but
chiefly they are spiritual. Those who would worship the birth of our Lord may
do so in the church of their choosing and in the way of their choosing. Those
among us who do not so celebrate the birth are free to share with us in this,
our time of joy. In this day, when our freedom to worship is most precious, let
us redouble our efforts to bring this and other greatest freedoms to all the
peoples of the Earth.
May
we give thanks for a free
Note: The President
spoke at