A bit of history for today: Thursday marked the 82nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

As we learned in our history classes growing up, the attack plunged the United States into a horrible, bloody world conflict that ended four years later on the battleship Missouri.

So, what does that have to do with Friday, Dec. 8, 2023?

Well, a good bit. Despite Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s wish that the final surrender of Japan would mark the start of peace across the world, mankind for some reason has never gotten the message. About five years after the Japanese surrendered, war broke out in Korea and the conflicts have continued.

Since the North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950, we’ve seen fighting break out across the globe, whether it be in Vietnam, Iraq, Ukraine, Gaza and even here in the U.S. as people continue to fight and die over territorial disputes, religious issues or revenge. You would think we would have learned by this time to respect the rights and beliefs of others and finally discovered that violence will not solve our problems.

We are now fully involved, most of us, in the Christmas season. We’ve decorated our homes. Some folks are now in the kitchen preparing the goodies their family members love, and many of us are out hitting the stores or the internet to find that perfect gift for someone. And for most of us the drama in the Middle East seems like another world way.

And yet, the conflicts of the world are not that far away. In fact, if you watch the TV news or look over the Internet, you’ll find conflict right here at home.

So as we make our final preparations to celebrate Christ’s birth, take some time to stop and pray for peace. During his time on earth, Jesus preached love and peace – and that we should respect others and accept them for who they are. The Christmas season is all about love and peace and we need to remind ourselves of that, especially during this time of year. Let’s use this season and the next year to practice what Jesus preached.

I’ll close now after having written one of my shorter columns. Thanks for listening.