From the Archives: Christmas Message 1937

The Commissioner of Lighthouses in 1937, Harold Davis King, sent out the following Christmas letter to all employees of the U.S. Lighthouse Service. I think it has a universal message, even so many years after it was composed.

It ought to be easy for us of the Lighthouse Service to practice 'Peace on Earth and good will toward men,' since the whole purpose of our chosen careers is the rendering of service to our fellow men rather than control or domination over them. So it is, therefore, that we many be gratefully mindful that we are public servants and that there is not only opportunity but necessity for the preservation and cherishing of idealism in a world which nowadays in so many quarters and in so many ways seems beset by the forces of materialism. 'Man shall not live by bread alone' are the words of Him whose advent is celebrated by the Christmas season, and the golden rule, which in various forms has been given expression as fundamental to many the great religious movements in human history, seems more than ever the ultimate hope of humanity to those who retain a lively faith that is is more blessed to minister than to be ministered unto.