Reading the Christmas editorials in old bound volumes of the Clarksdale Press Register is always an experience that makes us smile and one that also pulls at our heart.
Your Press Register has always been a mirror of our community and a sobering archive of what is going on in this city and county.
With 154 years of editorials to pull from, we have noticed that up until about 40 years ago most editorials occupying this space at this time of year sounded like a sermon. Pastors at our good churches could easily read them with pride and power from their pulpit this Sunday.
Yes, the world, our country and even Coahoma County and Clarksdale have changed a lot since the 1970s.
Our schools have faced the dilemma of offering public prayer at sports events. Our major stores have gone through the politically correct “Happy Holiday” versus “Merry Christmas” controversy. And yes, “baby, it was cold outside” in Coahoma County this week.
Christmas!
As an industry of words and ideas, we hope our readers will take a minute and examine that word.
With a little literary liberty and a strong dose of simplicity, it means “Christ festival.”
Those of us in the South and certainly those living in Coahoma County know what the word means.
It means a time of family, food and gifts. It also means something much deeper.
It’s a desire to seek peace on earth, good will toward all men and a time to reflect on the grand scheme of things and what really happens when a baby is born and then what happens when they put us in the cold, delta dirt of Coahoma County.
As our politics becomes more defined by Washington, our economy by Wall Street and our culture by Hollywood, this newspaper looks with pride on the faith and values of this community.
Our churches are doing much this December. The good people of this county are smiling and greeting others with that twinkle in their eye reflecting what really lives in their heart. And newspapers are trying to explain what this “Good News” is all about.
May we never be afraid to say Merry Christmas. May we always be ready to say what this season means to each of us.
