Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1892-12-26

bodies so they S4.. accurately calculate
backward and te-l 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 a 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 IL Is sEg-
| 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 Iprefer the simple story of the Bible,
| that a light of some kind-stellar or me-
teoric-pointed from the sky to the straw
cradle. When it is SO easy for God to
make a world that he puts eighteen mil
| lions of them within one sweep OF the
telescope, he; could certainly afford one
silTery 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
aslant rocks on Mount Calvary still show
| ing that there was O. 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. Ii
king at the birth. of d son can have the
palace illumined and couriers sent with
| III l. hoo lo1
| at the gates and wake up an empire
with cannonade, L am not surprised that.
| st the birth of the Son, of God there was
celestial agitation, and my only wonder
| Is that, instead of one star or 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 q stellar disgrace, an
astronomical scandal. if, when the God
head Law compressed in the form Of an
infant, something from above had not
pointed down, as much as to say: "There
he isl Look, all earth and heaven! Look,
I'll 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 crucifixion on Cal
vary Il was expected that Christ would
be maItreated. The world always had
maltreated its good and great friends.
Joseph hurled into the pit, Shadrach put
into the fire, jeremiah lowered into
dungeon. David bounded from the throne,
| Elijah compelled to starYe OF take his
food from the beak of afltby raven, and
| Socrates condemned to death, so that the
| Calvarian massacre was IN the same old
line of mediterranean. But the novelty of
all the ages was the conjunction Of oil
vinitY and humanity. Invisible deity,
1nuscled and nerved and feshed in mas
culine physique. A child and yet a God!
Why. if the meteor had not pointed doTyn
that night, some angel would have rushed
down and pointed with his glitterine
scepter. Isaiah and David and Ezekiel,
who foretold the coming, would have de-
scended from their thrones and stood Oh
the roof of the barn or in some way des-
ignated the honored locality. AS the
finger of light that Dec. % pointed to
the straw cradle, now all the fingers
of Christendom this moment, fingers Of
l CIl1QuOOQ d41Cl C-O IA1lSNAo VI ON- 1890
and song and decoration and festivity,
point to the great straw cradle. Am
not 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 retiactlon
and charities today, and by gifts and
trees that bear fruit in az hourafter 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 effigy.
Let the old folks for one day at least
say nothing about rheumatism, or 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
Shave full swing during the holidays.
sEhen 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 am con-
nected, we are celebrating the holidays