The Portland daily press., 1892-12-30

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bodies, so they can accurately calculate
backward and tell what occurred eight
cen or nineteen hundred years ago. And
it is true that seven years before Christ,
in Chaldea. about three hours before day
dawn. there was conjunction of Jupi-
ter and Saturn. Standing in Jerusalem
and looking over toward Bethlehem,
those two stars would have seemed to
hang over that village, and it is sug-
gested by a learned professor that the
magi may have had weak eyes, so that
the two stars may have looked like one.
In order to take everything supernatural
out of the story we have to blind the
eyes of the magi and introduce second
star to help out the idea of the one star.
But prefer the simple story of the Bible,
that light Of some kind-stellar OF me-
teoric-pointed from the sky to the straw
cradle. When it is SO easy for God to
make world that he puts eighteen mil
lions of them within one sweep of the
telescope, he could certainly afford one
silvery or fiery signal of some kind to
point the world to the place where the
sovereign Of the universe lay incarnated
and infantile.
If God could afford to make an espe-
cial earthquake at the crucifxion, the
ashanti rocks ON Mount Calvary still show
ing that there was CONFUSION of ma
ture at that particular spot which was
felt in none of the surroundings, then he
could afford something unusual, some
thing brilliant, something positive, some
thing tremendous at the nativity. If a
king at the birth of son can have the
palace illumined and couriers sent with
swift dispatch to announce the gladness
at the gates and wake up an empire
with cannonade, l am not surprised that,
at the birth of the Son of God there was
celestial agitation, and my only wonder
is that, instead of one star OF one meteor
giving signal, all worlds did not make
demonstration. Why not other worlds
take interest in the event when Christ
came from another world and anothe.
world was to get the souls that would
be saved by this celestial DESCENT 1t
would have been a stellar disgrace, an
astronomical scandal, if, when the God
head lay compressed in the form OF an
infant, something from above had not
pointed down, as much as to say: 'sThere
he is! Look, all earth and heaven! Look,
all time and all eternity!"
CHRIST MUST NEEDS SUFFER.
You see, the birth at Bethlehem must
have been more novel and startling to
the heavens than the crucifxion on Cal
vary. It was expected that Christ would
be maltreated. The world always had
maltreated its good and great friends.
Joseph hurled into the pit, Shadrach put
into the fire, jeremiah lowered into a
dungeon, David bounded from the throne,
Elijah compelled to starve or take his
food from the beak of filthy raven, and
Socrates condemned to death, so that the
Calyarian massacre was in the same old
line of maltreatment. But the novelty of
all the ages was the conjunction Of di-
yinity and humanity. Invisible deity,
muscled and nerved and feshed in mas
culine physique. A child and yet God!
Why, if the meteor had not pointed down
that might, some angel would have rushed
down and pointed with his glittering
scepter. Isaiah and David and Ezekiel,
who foretold the coming, would have de-
scended from their thrones and stood on
the roof of the barn or in some way des-
ignated the honored locality. AS the
finger of light that Dec. 25 pointed to
the straw cradle, now all the fingers
Of Christendom this moment, fingers OF
childhood and old age, fingers Of sermon
and song and decoration and festivity,
point to the great straw cradle. Am !
net right in saying that the first OF the
three chapters of the holidays should be
devoted to the illustrious birthday? By
song and prayer and solemn reflection
and charities today, and by gifts and
trees that bear fruit in an hour after they
are planted, and family gathering and
hilarities sounding from cellar to garnet
tomorrow, keep Christmas.
AS far as possible gather the children
and the grandchildren, but put no es-
topped on racket, whether Of laughter or
swift feet or toys in shape of rail
trains or trumpets or infant efigy.
Let the old folks for one day at least
say nothing about rheumatism, OF pros
pect of early demise, or the degeneracy
of modern times, or the poison in con-
fectionery. If you cannot stand the
noise, retire from it for little while
into some other room and stop your
ears Christmas for children without |
plenty of noise is no Christmas at all.
If children and grandchildren cannot
have full swing during the holidays.
when will they have it? They will be
still soon enough, and their feet will |
slacken their pace, and the burdens of |
life will bear them down. Houses get |
awfully still when the children are gone.
While they stay let them fill the room |
with such resounding mirth that you |
can hear the echoes twenty years after |
they are dead. By religious celebration
today and by domestic celebration to-
morrow keep Christmas AS for our
beloved church, we tomorrow night |
mean to set the children of our Sabbath |
school wild with delight, and in The
Christian Herald, with which l am con-
nected, we are celebrating the holidays |
by sending out from two to four thou