Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1890-12-29

wise men of the east followed by the
wise men of the west.
A PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE.
Know also in this scene that it was
a winter month that God chose for his
sons nativity. Had ii been the month
OF May-that is the season of blossoms.
Had he been born in the month of
.June-that IS the season of roses. Had
he been born in the month of July
that is the season Of great harvests.
Had he been born in the month of Sep
tember-that is the season of ripe or
cbards. Had he been born in the
month of October-that is the season
of upholstered forests. But he was
born in a winter month.
1t was in closing December that he
was born to show that this is a Christ
for people in sharp blast, for people
under clouded sky, for people with
frosted hopes, for people with Their
mOneter below zero. That is the rea-
son he is so often found among the des-
titute. You can find him on any night
coming off the moors. You can see
him any night coming through the dark
lanes of the city. You can see him
putting his hand under the fainting
head in the paGper's cabin. He re
members how the wind whistled around
the caravansary III Bethlehem that De
cember night, and he is in sympathy
with all those who in their poverty
hear the shutters chatter on a cold night.
1t was this December Christ that
yT-I4o0 o-I hic 111 IuOrchInQ6
at Valley Forge when without blankets
they lay down in the December snow.
1t was this Christ that the Pilgrim
Fathers appealed to when h May
flower wharfed at Plymouth Rock, and
in the years that went by the graves
digged were more in number than the
houses built. Oh, [ tell you we want
a December Christ, not a Christ for
fair weather, but a Christ for dark
days clouded with Sickness, and chill
ing with disappointment, and sutfoca-
ting with bereavement, and terrific with
wide open graves. Not a springtime
Christ, not a summer Christ, not an
autumnal Christ, but a winter Christ.
Oh, this suffering and struggling world
needs to be hushed and SOOthed and
rocked and lullabied in the arms OF
sympathetic ~Omnipotence! No mother
ever with more tenderness put her foot
on the rocker of the cradle of a sick
child than Christ comes down to US, to
this invalid world, and he rocks it into
placidity and q~uietness as he says, MY
peace [ give unto you; not as the world
giveth give | unto you"
MERCY TO THE ANIMALS.
Notice also a fact which no one
seems to notice. that this Christ was
born among the sheep, n the cattle,
and the horses, and the camels, in
order that he might be an alternating
influence to the whole animal creation.
1t means mercy for overdriven, under
fed, poorly sheltered, CALLED and NAL
treated animal creation. Hath the
Christ who compared himself to a dove
no care for the cruelties of the pigeon
shooting? Hath the Christ who COM
pared himself to a lamb nc care for the
sheep that are tied and cOntOrted, and
with neck over the sharp edge of the
butchers cart, or the cattle train in hot
weather from Omaha to New York,
with no water-ff6een hundred miles
of agony? Hath the Christ whose tax
was paid by a fish, the coin taken from
it's mouth, no care for the tossing
fins in the fish marketl Hath the
Christ who strung with his own
hand the nerves of dog and cat
no Indignation for the horrors of
vivisection? Hath the Christ who said,
$50 to the ant, " no watchfulness for
the transfxed insects2 Hath the Christ
who said, "Behold the fowls of the air.
himself never beheld the outrages
heaped upon the brute creation which
cannot a|rticulate its grief? This Christ
came not only to lift the human race
out of its trouble, but to lift out of
pang and hardship the animal creation.
In the glorious millennial time the
child shall cad the lion and play with
the cOckatrice only because brute and
reptile shall have no wrongs to
avenge. To alleviate the condition OF
the brute creation Christ was born in
the cattle pen. The first bleat of the
Lamb of God heard amid the tired
focks of the Bethlehem shepherds. The
white horse of eternal victory stabbed in
a barn.
But notice also in this account the
three Christmas presents that are
brought to the manager. Gold, frank
incense and myrrh. Gold to Christ
that means all the ~atfiuence of the
world surrendered to him. For lack OF
money no more asylums limping OF
their way like the cripples whom they
helped, feeling their slow way like the
blind people whom they sheltered. Mill
ions of dollars for Christ where there are
now thousands for Christ. Railroad:
owned by Christian stockholders anC
governed by Christian directors anC
carrying passengers and freight al
Christian prices. George Peabodys anc
Abbott L|awrences and James Lenoxes
no rarity. Bank of England, Bourst
of France, United States treasury, al
the moneyed institutions of the world
for Christ. The gold for Christ
r Gold not merely paid the way of 10
seph and Mary and the divine fugi
tive into Egypt, but it was typica
of the fact hat Christ's way shall
be paid all around the world. TIL,
gold for Christ, the silver for Christ
the jewels for Christ, Australia, Nevad;
and Golconda for Christ. The bright
/. round, beautiful jewel of a world Sc
like a solitaire on the bosom of Christ
=. But [ notice that these wise men ais
shook out from their sacks the myrrh
The cattle came and they snuffed at it
J. They did not eat it because it was bit
ter. The pungent gum resin of Abys
sinia called myrrh brought to the fee
of Christ. That means bitterness
, Bitter betrayal, bitter persecution, Bit
:, ter days of suffering, bitter nights 0
+ woe. Myrrh. That is what they pu
!, into his cup when he was dying
, Myrrh. That is what they put unde
his head in the wilderness. Myrrh
That is what they strewed his pat
!, with all the way from the cattle pen i
Bethlehem to the mausoleum at JC
seph's country seat. Myrrh. Yea, say
the Psalmist, "AIl thy garments SINE.
of mvrrh." That is what the wise me