By Steve Jalsevac
December 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This has been the most challenging and difficult year ever for us at LifeSiteNews and for myself as the manager of this work of proclaiming truth through news reporting. And yet, this was only to be expected given the mission we have willingly accepted at this extremely controversial time in history.
For myself, there are certainly no regrets and there is a peace that we reported what we were obliged in conscience to report, regardless of the sometimes crushing time demands and very harsh responses from some quarters. But then, this is not my battle. I have only responded to a call, to a duty beyond myself that quite frankly I have not deliberately sought. I suggest the same goes for the other members of the wonderful LifeSiteNews team.
That brings me to the celebration of the child Jesus in the manger – the personification of truth. This awesome newborn baby was and continues to be a light to the world, but a light that was not welcomed or understood by the powerful and influential in the world. In fact he was hated, even at such an early age because he was immediately understood to be a threat to the schemes of the wordly.
It is notable that it was the simple, poor shepherds who were most attracted to the child. They, above all, comprehended the greatness and wonder that was there. They did not need convincing or complex explanations. They were open to grace, unlike those distracted by possessions and pride.
I cannot help but be impressed by the fact that this has always been the story of the pro-life movement for as long as I can remember. The parallel between the responses to the Christ Child and the responses to the threatened unborn child is no coincidence. I believe the unborn child is in a spiritual sense the infant Jesus – pure, totally sinless and either loved, or unwanted to the degree that some want to murder him, because he is perceived as a threat, an interference.
It has overwhelmingly been the humble, the suffering and certainly not the comfortable powerful and wealthy who have personally given themselves to the struggle to protect life and the family. We could write volumes of books about the great sacrifices made by large numbers of these people who I have been blessed to personally know for the past 30 years. Their heroism has been extraordinary.
LifeSiteNews constantly repeats that its calling is to report TRUTH. I experience Christmas as, among many other things, a moving and peace-giving affirmation of this work. The message is so simple, so clear at this time. The Child Jesus and the Holy Family do this. All the anxieties and stresses fade away and everything is put back into the greater, eternal perspective.
There is something else I would like to share. Well over a year ago I was given the book “When Character was King,” by Peggy Noonan, a story of Ronald Reagan. I really wasn't motivated to read it. I deal so much everyday with politics and its many related issues that I just could not bear to spend any of my precious spare time reading a book about a political figure. And then, for whatever reason, I recently felt an interest in reading the book.
I had no idea that there would be so much inspiration in the book for my work with LifeSiteNews. Reagan, despite some substantial human flaws, was nevertheless an extraordinary president. Noonan presents much evidence in the book for her statement that “Ronald Reagan loved the truth.” I really identified with that. Noonan further explained, “We all do or say we do (love the truth) but for Reagan it was like fresh water, something he needed and wanted. He thought truth is the only foundation on which can be built something strong and lasting – because only truth endures. Lies die.”
After reading that I had to say, “Yes! That is a man that I can admire.” Or put another way, those are the principles to which we at LifeSiteNews aspire.
But there were other important dimensions to Reagan. He was, unlike all the hateful media and liberal characterizations of him, a genuinely likeable and humble man who prayed often and relied greatly on those prayers for his decisions. And his prayers were quiet, humble prayers – those of a simple man.
And there was more that struck me and inspired me. Noonan writes, “In a time of malice he was not malicious; in a time of lies he did not falsify; in a time of great pressure he didn't bend or break; in a time of disingenuousness he was clear and candid about where he stood and why. And in a time when people just gave up after a while and changed the subject, he remained on the field through the long haul.”
I just finished “When Character was King.” For me, it was the right message for Christmas and the right message to consider in relation to the work of truth that is LifeSiteNews. Peggy Noonan makes clear that Ronald Reagan was a man who did his best to imitate his Master. Now, I am not going to make any judgment here about the rightness or wrongness of many of Reagan's political actions, other than to note that he was the most pro-life president in my memory and he did play a great role in finally bringing to an end the godless, Soviet empire. He also amazingly succeeded in achieving his many years goal of an arms agreement that resulted in both the US and the Soviet union massively decreasing the number of active nuclear weapons they possessed.
Putting aside the politics, Reagan's character was the inspiration for me. It is one that seems in many ways worth attempting to imitate or to learn from. So, I thank God for leading me to read that book at this time. It has added to the peace and joy of Christmas.