Remarks by Stephen P. Hawkins,
Mayor, Liberty, Missouri

Editors' Note: On Saturday evening, November 23, 2002, Liberty, Missouri's Mayor Stephen P. Hawkins and Meridian Magazine's Rodger Dean Duncan spoke to a crowd of townspeople at the ceremony of turning the Christmas lights on at the Historic Liberty Jail. In a continuing effort to build community with our great neighbors in Missouri and throughout the world, Meridian has published both talks given at that occasion.

[To read the remarks given by Liberty, Missouri citizen Rodger Dean Duncan on this same occasion, click here]

“As we stand outside this noble dome, protecting and preserving a place where events of signal importance took place in the history of the Mormon faith, it is understandable that we first consider the religious significance to the lights.”

Mayor Hawkins' Remarks:

Good evening, and thank you once again for providing me with the opportunity, as mayor, to be a part of this beautiful, and meaningful, ceremony.

The season is underway. Last evening, at our Community Center, the Liberty Community Christmas Tree was lit. In another five days, the Country Club Plaza will display its Spanish-inspired architecture in multicolored profiles now so familiar to many throughout the world that they are a Kansas City-trademark. The first week of December will bring us the Lighting of the Quad on William Jewell College’s Hill. Some time soon, we will see our own Square, especially the trees around the courthouse and in the courtyard beside City Hall, ablaze with lights. And tonight we will transform the already attractive but dignified dome behind this platform into almost a spectacular scene.

Why the big production? Why this fascination with light? Is there a single reason to which this seasonal phenomenon can be attributed?

As we stand outside this noble dome, protecting and preserving a place where events of signal importance took place in the history of the Mormon faith, it is understandable that we first consider the religious significance to the lights. Similarly, at William Jewell College’s Quad, we will be surrounded by a complex of buildings, each displaying a different colored light scheme, that house an institution with the mission of providing a Christian liberal arts education to its students.

The birth of him whom we often call the Light of the World is what we celebrate in this season. The babe who emerged as the human embodiment of God into this world in the dark grotto of a stable, and to whom were directed the Magi by the light of that guiding star – is it not entirely appropriate that we mark His birth with light?

I doubt that anyone here tonight will take the opposing position, but is this symbolism entirely adequate to explain the extent to which we illuminate, even to explain why we illuminate these buildings? And if it is not sufficient, should we feel guilty – are we somehow at fault? Are we inadequately or improperly motivated?

Let’s take another example close at hand, the beautiful lights of Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza, similar to premium shopping and entertainment districts found in many other major cities. Would we contend, with any seriousness, that the Christian symbolism accounts for such colorful displays? The cynics among us are quick in settling upon an obvious argument here. Such displays are “purely commercial” in their motivation. Marketing mandates that these extravaganzas be provided in order to draw in the unwary shopper. The innocent customer is drawn, beyond his or her ability to protest, to the lights, and thence consumed, like the moth, by a materialistic conflagration -- a theory that doubtless builds upon an element of truth.

However, isn’t it likely that shoppers would be drawn to the major commercial areas at Christmas time, anyway, regardless of the presence of lighting displays? And to be perfectly frank, aren’t the most serious shoppers often put off by the traffic snarls created by the light gawkers?

To tie in another variety of displays, consider the lights that shine on and around our public buildings here, the Community Center, the Courthouse and City Hall. Without going into the particulars of the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the first amendment, or the basics of government finance, suffice it to say that neither the spiritual nor the commercial rationales explain satisfactorily the motivations for the efforts made to light up such areas at the holidays. So what is the purpose, why do we continue, year after year, to invest such time, effort and money in lighting displays?

It is only, as are these others, a theory that I put before you, one that is along the lines of that holy grail of science, the unifying theory. But it seems to me that it suggests a reason why we display lights at Christmas on our churches, our schools, our businesses and our homes. And it offers an explanation for which, in my opinion, we need not be ashamed.

Yes, I believe that the lights we display are symbolic, intended to attract others, and intended to be aesthetically pleasing – all at the same time – because they are messages we send to each other at a time when we seem to reach out for each other.

For all different varieties of reason, we greet each other with lights. Though your motivations might be slightly different than mine, we join you. The lights of a shopping district certainly invite customers, but they also invite gatherings of people far beyond those who generate sales for merchants. The lights on our public buildings don’t shout out a religious message, but they clearly speak that important things are occurring in our City and County, that we are pleased these are taking place, and that we are happy to join you in your joy. The lights on churches, chapels and religious edifices such as this one do indeed announce once again that Christ, the light of the world, is born, and invite believers within. But they also state to all who view them that “we are among you, we join in your celebration of the season’s spirit, we would be pleased if you joined in ours.”

These lights we gladly display to each other are not only literally strings and strands, but they are also another set of the threads and cords that weave us together, then bind us together, as Community.

There are many things that I, and you, celebrate during this season. Almost certainly, no two of us have the same list. But certainly there is much in common that we celebrate, and it is in recognizing what we share, in celebration and otherwise, that we make our great Community possible. That is why I take particular pleasure in being with you this evening to energize the particular strands of community that adorn this historic location.

As I join in flipping this switch in a few moments, I do so not only as an individual, but on behalf of our City Council and the Citizens of Liberty. Thank you, once again, for allowing me – for allowing us – to be part of your celebration, and for being such a critical part of ours. Thank you for being woven into this Community.

[To read the remarks given by Liberty, Missouri citizen Rodger Dean Duncan on this same occasion, click here]

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