What's your reason for the season?

As we wrap up this year's Christmas and holiday season, it's a good time to reflect on what the time meant to you.

Was your time hurried, rushed, but still spent completing tasks that were a service to others? Did you gain some satisfaction from helping people out? If that's the case, then you are fortunate.

Or did you get caught up in the rush to find the right gift, write the perfect Christmas letter, bake homemade cookies, or outdo your neighbors with your outdoor Clark Griswold-type lights display? We can all relate to responding to the pressure of the season. We've all been there and done that, to some extent. It's hard not to want to meet others' expectations (and maybe your own).

Now Christmas is over and we're heading into a new year, a time to rethink past decisions and make changes for the better. Instead of focusing on the trappings of each holiday season, try looking at needs of others who are right before your eyes. Look out for your neighbors and employees, help a frantic driver whose car broke down on the Fill, and be there for family and friends. Small gestures like these help bind society together and help people be self-sufficient, not reliant on government services. We understand, though, in the rush of everyday life, it takes precious time to stop and help others.

The parable of the Good Samaritan comes to mind, a Bible story that teaches the importance of helping a stranger, no matter who that person may be.

In the parable, a man is severely attacked and beaten by robbers. Two people pass by him, without helping. A third man stops, bandages the man's wounds, brings him to an inn and cares for him.

Stories like this still happen, to some extent. When was the last time you drove by someone whose car was broken down, thinking someone else would stop to help?

Are you part of the problem, or the solution?

- Editorial Board