The Newtown bee., 1895-12-06
Tow Town Topic cs..'' :l...'
!, Observation-Disclosures OF THE BEE ]

4
| ,etsPEcEAL.coRREsPoNDEHpE OF THE BEE
i About. this time OF year many good
people are distracted with the problem OF
Christmas giving. How much to epend
70 mhomshall-we give3 And what shall
q 'be2' These are the principal questions.
II Ii really trying time. 1t is the great
season OF selfsaorif0e for The sake Of
others, and therefore we. are strangely
tempted to do selashs and foolish .things.
Rsorrpeoplo ere, aptt0fget discouraged
-they y,wouh like do 90 much and have
go little to do with--ands 30 give up the
idea OF giving anybody anything. This
10 . great mistake.ct However poor we
edRess' Of giving somebody something ct
fChristmas.. We must, remember che
words OF the Lord Jesus, how. He said,
stIts' is more blessed to give than to re-
oelV0s'it t,ss-.s - 5s,s .;f.-s,fst y =. -.
It is fact. II you do not, believe it,
try 1t. But mind, you must give; you
must really give;- you must put your
heart aad sOut into 1t or it will not. be
real giving at all. II you are going to
give because 1t is the custom, or 'because
OF some obligation, or because, you hope
for something more, valuable In return
for 1t, thatisc cold, calculating, selfshness
which cannot make anyone happy In the
Christmas sense or the word. .-.-'.
The secret of giving is.a.To be sure
that you are going to make the receiver
OF the gift happy, and then you,will be.
most likely TO be happy, too.iar 1.
!. Now of course we should give accord
ing to what we have and net according
to what We have not. 1t would not seem,
to be'agracious thing to do, TO run in
debt to make gift, unless Of course you
Ennv h Rao<s IL 81
as the fullequivalent OF the debit
l would not like gift which, really be-
longs 'to'a third party In the trade. But
we need not do that. Weoan save eomes
thing. We can deny Ourselves.' We can
plan beforehand ~ We can make some.
thing, or we can do something. a little
deed Of kindness with cheerful good will
may e precious gift which will bring
abundant blessing to both the giver and
the receiver. ...-sF -,',isf-' - - i
'Irreaily does not take much to make
ne happy : it is the spirit and manner,
the fitness and the surprise which gives
IL does seem too bad to give the child
must have, instead Of the thing they so
much want, at this time It is killing |
more than two birds with one stone; and |
It' Is apt to kill the heavenly. dove of
divine grace which is the most precious
heritage Of Christmas-tide. And as to |
old clothes, would never give them at /
anytime except as it may be necessary |
20 keep very poor people from suffering. |
For one, I have little faith In the gospel |
II old Clothes. sr.-r'' tst,r ~ .-T
. Conventional society givingls fraud,
Ind has nothing to do with the true
'pirit of Christmas. Excepting the sim-
,fe greetings OF real friends, it were bet
;er thatwe give to our families and to
he poor, and stop there. Whatsoever Is,
more than these conneth, OF evil and is-a /
,urden, and a curse 10 the community.
Iwant to make. a plea for the unworthy |,
,oor. OF course they are undeserving
md very likely ungrAteful.e But somuch
he worse we ought to give them Christ
mas. 1t is what they need they will
never learn to be thankful II they never
lave anything for which to thank any
me. .fs it not the very idea Of divine +
,raceP "He fs kind unto the unthankful, !
md to the evii.''-[O. O.eWright. .l1