Slusher: Sound, fury and two words that signify everything

The Daily Herald publishes millions of words every year. On the Opinion page alone, we print hundreds of thousands, all intended in some way to engage your heart or mind. Here are two you'll hear often today, but whose spirit should extend to every day of the year:

Thank you.

And, I'm not simply thinking here merely in commercial terms. Certainly, we appreciate you as a customer, but you give the newspaper something much deeper than your business, and for that we have a special sense of gratitude.

I like to think that one particular theme runs through almost all of the columns I've written in the Daily Herald for the past 15-plus years - that true, effective communication involves universal demands. It is one thing to "talk," or in our case to publish pictures and stories and ideas about what's going on in our world. It is yet another to "listen"; that is, to take in those stories, ideas and images and apply them to one's own experiences. Neither party - not the speaker nor the listener - is absolved of responsibility or effort in the process. If our millions of words are going to have value, we have a duty to do all we can to consider them carefully before we publish them, and you have a duty to consider them carefully after we publish them.

That is no small demand for either of us. For our side, we employ a lot of thinking and effort to ensure that ideas for stories, columns and pictures have merit and are presented properly. We don't tell you often enough that we recognize and appreciate the effort required on your part.

We strive for the material we publish to be interesting, informative, thought-provoking, valuable and easy to understand and use. You take it from there and make it meaningful.

You share a story with a friend over a cup of coffee at the local diner. You attend a local school board or town council meeting to express your thoughts or get more information about issues important to you. You consider the thoughts and ideas of political candidates and then go to the polls to cast a vote. You take to your word processor or writing desk to declare your ideas in a letter to the editor that will challenge, inspire or support your neighbors and communities, in the process extending and deepening the lines of communication.

You reflect on ideas about everything from music and movies to business and sports teams that don't just involve your entertainment but that create the values running through every aspect of social life.

All of these activities and more are what really define a newspaper's worth. Our words and images provide a mirror to our communities and our world but, to echo Macbeth's lament, they are sound and fury signifying nothing unless and until you engage with them, you turn them into action.

So I want to be sure on this special day devoted to gifts and the spirit of giving that you know we appreciate your involvement in this community we make together. Among all the words you see in the Daily Herald today and every day, I want to be sure to repeat those two that underlie all the others. Thank you.

And, yes of course, two more: Merry Christmas.

Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is an assistant managing editor at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on Twitter at @JimSlusher.