By Senator Jay Paul Gumm, D-Durant
Merry Christmas, everybody! The week of Christmas is always among the busiest of the year.
Getting ready for the holiday and preparing for the challenges of a new year can consume our time and wear away at our patience. No matter how busy we get this time of year, it is important that we remember the meaning of Christmas: the birth of our Lord and Savior and what His life and His sacrifice gave to us.
It has been two years now since Deena and I received the best Christmas gift we could: the birth of our son, Jacob. It is amazing to see all that hope and promise in his wide and trusting two-year-old eyes.
Since the day my wife and I decided to ask for your vote and your trust almost six years ago, nothing was more important to me than to make certain the next generation of Oklahomans has a better life. When Deena and I found out she was expecting, that commitment I made to each of you took on a deeper meaning.
It has been said that those of us called to public service are “dealers in hope.” I like that description. Ours is a world in which hope sometime seems difficult to keep; Christmas reminds us all that hope is part of our being – a gift from our Creator that must be nurtured and strengthened.
Every year, preparations for the legislative session begin just as the Christmas season begins. It is a nice reminder that our job at the State Capitol – more than anything else – is to build on the hope every Oklahoma family has: the hope that our children have a better life.
In this season of miracles, this season of hope, you have my solemn and renewed pledge. Every vote I make and every word I speak on your behalf has at its core our shared desire to make tomorrow better for all of us.
Finally, this week, let me close by sharing with you the words that first heralded to the world that a Savior was born and that hope would forever be part of this world. They are from the Book of Luke, Chapter 2, Verses 10-14:
“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
There is no more perfect message with which to end this week’s “Senate Minute.” Merry Christmas and may God bless you all.
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