Los Angeles herald., 1890-12-25
CHRISTMAS IN LOS ANGELES-GENERhL
CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS.

CHRISTMAS in LUS ANuELEo uSNGhfN@-
CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS.
1t is exceedingly easy to write hack
neved articles on Christmas, and the
veriest dullard, by having recourse to
that "index learning" that is at the bot
tom of the encyclopedias and special
dictionaries, may be learned and i'm
pressive on this topic. But in Los An
geles really distinctive Christmas
article may be written, as contradis-
tinguished from the traditional screed.
Here we have a sub-tropical Christmas,
with no more suggestion of the European
nations or the eastern states staple than
there is of guinea pig in Muscovy duck.
1t is gala times here indeed at Christ
mas tide! The poor are not pinched.
No need Of fire when the genial sun OF
heaven is shining in undimmed splen-
dor in cerulean sky, and where it is
question as to whether the summer or
winter has the most genial tenn
perature OF the two. Perhaps
the most biting commentary on
''beautiful snow" the invariable accom-
paniment of the eastern Christmas, is
its chilling effect upon the poor The
frosty arabesques on the window panes
of the rich, the jingling sleighbells that
make the scintillant but often fatal air
musical, are only poetical environments
of hardship, as to which Southern Cali
fornia knows nothing. Here, instead,
we have every luscious fruit and vege-
table known to every cline OF earth.
We have the turkey, also, but we do not
get him at the sacrifice of our green
peas, strawberries and string-beans. We
not only have the turkey, but we have
our spring lamb and veal and ''broilers,"
and everything that would be incident
to spring dinner in the east. In other
words, we have January and June yoked
together to make California's cornuco-
pia the most varied and abundant on
earth. And we eat our royal range of dain-
ties amidst the perfume OF the camelia
and the tube-rose grown in the open air,
with orange and lemon blossoms On the
side, so to speak. A more fascinating
ensemble could scarcely be pictured on
any region of earth, or of all earth
combined.
To drop our special fluctuations on
Christmas, that august festival recurs
with an unfading freshness to the hearts
of civilized nations. The date commem-
crates the glorious reunion of heaven
and earth; the practical demonstration
of the sublime truth that "God SO loved
versary sinks to the merest transient
ripple on the stream of time.
The very best in our natures is, or
ought to be, evoked at this season.
Around the. grand fundamental belief by
which we accept Christmas as the birth
day OF Christ clusters the beginning OF
all real elevation and progress for the
race.
OF what value was the development of
ancient Egypt, or the trophies of pride
and ambition reared on the banks Of the
Tigris and the Euphrates, in comparison
with the imperishable achievements of
the Christian faith? To what extent
did "the glory that was Greece and the
grandeur that was Rome" benefit the
mass of these nations? The vast pro-
portion were the helpless bond slaves of
Ignorance and lustful power.
But, in transcendent contrast, the
divine proclamation, heralded under
Judean skies, nearly two thousand years
ago, was direct message of help to
every sentient being; a especial provi-
dence'' to each one separately.
The forward movement which the
world has gained since the Inauguration
of Christmas day is by far the greatest
advance it has made since the creation.
Christian civilization is measured by the
simple standard of the golden rule-'Do
as you would be done by" Whatever
fails to stand this test is, more or less
openly, the mere impulse of brute force.
The religion of the New Testament
was the first idea the world had received
of the absolute equality of mankind be-
fore God. The more clearly we appre-
hend and are influenced by the undis-
IoItcu iueae VI lIs ulFine lounucI the
more closely we approach to the brother
hood of man.
The story of human liberty dates from
the birth of Christ. Had the world at
large never been blest with Christmas
day, it is very problematic whether the
new world would ever have seen