Light in the Darkness: A Call for Justice, Mercy, and Humility in 2025
By State Senator Page Walley
December 23, 2024
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
While this Holy season is upon us when many celebrate the coming of “Emmanuel” – God with us – our area is hurting. Hurting over the widows and orphans left behind after the recent, senseless, and brutal murders in McNairy and Hardin Counties. At times, it indeed seems like the darkness is overcoming us. But, thank God, our people called by His name continue to rise up to remind us that the light will not be overcome.
As we approach the beginning of the 2025 Tennessee General Assembly session on January 14, 2025, I planned to write previewing issues which likely will be addressed. Everything from private school vouchers to balancing the budget to addressing immigration issues will be considered. However, it struck me as more important during this time that we preview how we will choose to treat each other in 2025.
Every day I read a familiar verse from the book of Micah: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Chapter 6, verse 8). Three action verbs: act, love, walk. While these directions are simple, they are not easy – particularly in a time where we have become personally prideful and embarrassingly thin-skinned. We have decided that folks who think differently than us are not just our opponents, but also our enemies. And that they deserve to be silenced at least and “cancelled” at worst.
But we who claim to look to God not only to guide us but also to be Lord often refuse to do what He requires. Do I act in a just and fair manner – particularly towards those who think and act differently? Do I consider how merciful God and others have been towards me and pay it forward? Do I see humility – the acknowledgement that the other guy might just be right – as a strength and not a weakness?
When we consider that, during the darkest and coldest time of the year, a child came in the most humble of circumstances to bring light and reconciliation, I believe we can be better. And that applies mightily to those of us in government – one of the few institutions Divinely ordained.
I am convicted that I must act justly in every situation – not just those with which I am comfortable. I must more often show mercy instead of judgment. I must walk humbly, comparing myself to God’s standard and not to that of my fellow sojourners.
One of my favorite poems was penned by Sam Walter Foss entitled “The House By The Side Of The Road”. The concluding verse is my prayer for myself and for our people:
“Let me live in my house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by –
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish-so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat
Or hurl the cynic’s ban?
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.”
Blessings over you and our families and communities. May 2025 be one that we look back a year from now and say confidently that we were friends and light to one another.
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