A Year of 0pportunity

By Jock Dionnc

l95O wlll br o yror of Opporfunl?y.

In thot rcrp.cl lt wlll dlfior lltllo from ony prcvlour yeor.

Evcr dncc lho Dcclorullon of Indcpondcncc wor glven lo the world, Opporlunlly hqr bccn thc blrrhrlght of cvcry Amcrlcon.

In thc old doyr Klngr urod to roy, "God modc you o commoner, ond mode nc o Klnglcve you tug3 ond me o robc-God dld lt." c)f courre lt wqr on unholy lle lhen or lt lr now; bul ot for or the fellow under foot wqr conccrncd lt mlght or well have been lrue.

Tlme wor when they ured to celebrqte Chrlrlmst by honglng on glbbeb other God-worrhlpplng men who chqnced to dbogrce wlth them. On thc blrlhdoy of rhe gentle Jerut lhey would derecrqle Hir menory, cloiming lhey ware chcmpionlng Hfu cquce. The horrorr procficed on the eorly Chrirtionr by the bofiodonl hqve only been rurpossed in horror ond ferocity by those lhol were proctlced uPon ono qnolher by loter Chrirliqnr.

The. world found itc lorluous woy lhrough eros of qgony ond Inlultlce when for q rnqn to think forcefully ond intelligently ond to speok freely<ven though every thought qnd word wor for the benefit of rtruggling humonity-a;os dongerour indeed.

You con lrqce fhe liberqtion of the humqn rqce-lhe down of Opportunity-to thot doy when thon inspired forefqlhers of ours signed lheir nqmes to lhot Declorotion qnd gove it lo the world sr the true birthright of msn. By so doing they set ot liberty thought, speech, ombifion, originolity, initiotive, polriolilm, love of counlry, love of home, love of God.

And so on New Yeor's Doy--.-ond on eyery other dcy of the yeor for thqt mqller -the thoughtful qnd groteful mqn qnd womqn cqn well qftord lo devole some momenls lo lhe conlemplotion of our incomporobte blessings. t950 will be s time of Opportunity. Eoch of us will hove the Opportuniry to do our level. besf in whqlever work we moy be engoged in. My rights only ferminste where YOURS begin. We will hcrve the Opportunity to think, ond speok, ond work, ond do iusf os we think besl, provided we do not infringe on the rights of olhers. We hqve the dghl lo creqle success, qnd to enioy its fruilsl We hove the right to pursge heohh, hoppiness, ond prosperity occording lo our own choice, os long os we do nol inlrude on lhe other fellow's efiorls in the sqme direction. We hqve the right to help the other fellow, lo cooperote with him in order thot we moy help one onother-the Golden Rule<nd lo the end thot this notion moy be better off.

And when you sqy-"| hqve the righl"-you hove one hond on the Declorotion of Independence ond the other on the Constitution of the Uniled Stoles, qnd don'i you forget it! And don't forget thot before thqt firsf documenl wqs wrillen no mqn hqd ever been oble to sqy-"1 hove the righf"-<nd gel owoy with it.

So, os we look forwqrd with hope ond couroge into 1950, let us breothe o prqyer of thqnkfulness for such Opporlunily.