AS IN a previous article written some 10 years ago, we are recalling here with paraphrases, the following special article inspired by Dr. Allan Francis' story, printed in 1926 by the Judson Press, in Philadelphia, United States of America. He writes about a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village where he worked in a carpentry shop until he was 30 years old. Following this for some years, he was an itinerant preacher. Interestingly, he never owned a home and never wrote a book. He never had a regular job or office. He never went to college. He never put his foot in a big city inside his country. He never traveled several hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did some of the things that usually accompanied success or exceptional accomplishments. He had in fact no special credential but only essentially himself.
While still a relatively young man, he experienced the tide of public opinion which turned against him. Some of his few friends avoided him due to their perceived risk. Several of his few remaining companions denied him and he was turned over to unfriendly authorities. Following this, he went through the mockery of a trial where he was made to suffer and eventually forced to carry a cross for his capital punishment. Sadly, he was sentenced to death upon a cross between two criminals. While he was dying, his executioners ridiculed him and gambled for the only material property of his robe. When he eventually passed away, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Many centuries have come and gone and yet today, he has remarkably occupied a centerpiece of the human race and a leader of worldwide renown. It is not far within the mark when countless writers say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever launched, all the governments that ever held power, and all the kings that ever ruled, have not affected the life of such a man upon this earth as historically powerful as has that one solitary life. For human beings today, after many centuries, Jesus Christ has become the exceptional central figure of the world. As countless writers have reflected, all these numerous efforts in life for accumulation of wealth, power, recognition and status have hardly meant anything unforgettable or exceptional. In the last analysis, what has really mattered in life is what we do for our fellow beings. By focusing on making a genuine difference in the lives of others, especially for the downtrodden, we realize remarkably the real difference that one "solitary life" of our historic Savior can make in our existence as with all of humanity.
The Negros Occidental Historical Council, Inc. and its volunteers and friends prayerfully wish everyone a blessed Christmas and a more hopeful coming New Year despite the global difficulties on this special season for all of humankind.