Huntsville gazette., 1893-12-23

0GOO)ylsj hear heard i1a a song song
90 full of sweet melody and SO freight
ed with possible good as that sung by
the angels on the first Christmas Eve.
Who can sing sweeter than angels?
And what sentiment surpasses that of
| GLORY to God" and ''Peace on Earth?"
If mortals could perfectly weave these
sentiments into character, each life
would be a psalm of sweeter music
than that sung by these angels. This
indeed is the meaning of the song,
and of the remarkable child, and of
Christmas. Where, also, on our green
earth, is there spot more worthy to
be the birthplace of such babe than
Bethlehem in Judea? This quiet vii
lage hangs upon the crescent hillside
| like birds nest among leaves, and
the circling hills form a natural era
die, sheltered from the winds, and TO-
cusing the suns December rays. On
almost any winter night you can stand
upon their oriental housetops and see
the moonlight flooding this cradle val
ley with its silvery halo, and watch
the shepherds now, as of old, tending
their foclks of sheep and goats, and,
| SO real is the scene, that you can al
most hear again the angel song, and
fancy that hope is dawning anew on a
| weary world as the morning dawn
rises over the Moab uplands eastward.
| The setting of these sacred hills is not
unworthy of the jewel it bore.
Now, for eighteen centuries, once a
year, at least, men have turned their
thoughts toward the sacred village,
the sun and the manger, and, like the
wise men of the East, have laid their
gifts and homage at the feet Of this
newborn babe.
Christmas day is the best of all our
holidays. There is more meaning in it
than in any other we celebrate. 1t is
cheeriest and has the most reason to be
SO. 1t is by emphasis day of the heart
and of the home. Motherhood and babe
hood, and home and hope, are its
touches of nature that make the whole
world kin. What is holier than moth
| erhood? 1t subdues the warning race
of man into brotherhood by its tender
memories of years long gone and its
| tenderer ministering of years now pres
| ent. And what is sweeter than babe
hood? Artists have painted this
| Christ-babe as the perfection of all
| babe loveliness. The babe of the Sistine
Madonna expresses our thought OF
what the Babe of Bethlehem was, and
who does not love a babe? With babe
and mother we have home and child
hood. Nazareth, like Bethlehem, is a
garden among the hills, and here was
| the home and childhood of Christ.
Here yet Marys fountain flows from
| the rock and the women water-car-
| riers, erect and in single file, bear the
graceful water jars upon their shoul
ders. The stone dwellings and simple
| furniture are as of old.
1t was in a manger at birth and a
humble dwelling through childhood
that the divine-human babe was intro
duced to life that has brought hope
| and cheer to multitudes.
Thus Christmas speaks to mar
through some of the dearest relation
| ships he sustains, and the words il
| speaks are that all men should live fol
| the glory of God and for peace among
| men.
| Christmas is well celebrated in song
| after the example of the first celebra
ton. Music is the language of joy
Heart joy speaks in the soft mur1nur
ing music Of the soul when no ear i
near; home joy finds expression in tn
chorus of mingled voices around tn
hearthstone: a nations Joy break
forth in martial hymns or peans of lib
erty; universal joy demands angeli
harmonies. Once the stars sang to
gether for JOY and the trees of tn
fields clapped their hands, and ono
angelic messengers sang Christina
anthem of universal peace.
| Christmas is well celebrated will
gifts. When Heaven gives so royalty
to men. men may well give to eac1
other. How rich in self-forgetfulnes
and how beautiful in service was tha
life which Christmas celebrates SAINT;
Claus with his loaded pack has stood th
criticism of the years largely becaus
of the spirit of giving which he repre-
sents-Christmas gifts and Christina
songs. GILBERT FREDERICK.