The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-01-04

eternal echO! "GlOry to GOd IN the
highest; and on earth peace and
goodwill toward men,"
"Ahi think we listened there"
with open heart and earl
"And heard In truth as these men say they
heard"
"On flock and rock and tree."
Raining such melody
Heavens love descending in that loveliest
word"
"Peace Not at firstl Not yet!
"Our earth had to forget"
! Burden of birth, and travail of slow years:
"But now the dark time doneiw
Daylight at length begun"
First gold of sun in sight dispelling fears!"
Peace beginning to be,''
deep as the sleep of the sea-
when the stars their faces glass"
I'm Its blue tranquility
| Hearts of men upon EARTH"
| "FrOm the first to the second BIRTH"
| ITO rest as the still waters rest"
| with the colors of Heaven on their breast"
For my own part, believing
that the world of human affairs is
providentially governed, and that
there is gladness in heaven over any
event that shall be truthful of bless
ing to mankind, l say that whatever
imagery the Gospel writer's had seen
fit to employ would have fallen short
of the essential fact. No symbolism
of light such as never shone before
on sea or land; of wise men following
from afar the radiance of a guiding
star; of celestial heralds who brought
"Good News" to wondering shep-
herds; or of the armament aglow
with angel forms and faces and vocal
with angelic minstrelsy, could fully
picture the nearness of heaven to
! earth on that first Christmas eve. The
birth marvel which occurred that
night was the incarnation in a single
personality of that perfect type of
religious thought and character which
had been begotten of the contact be-
tween the human soul and the spirit
of God, and with which all the ages
of spiritual love and longing and
worship had been in travail. If all
this was true-and the event has
proved that it was-who can doubt
that those angels of God, among
whom there is gladness when one
sinner repents, foreseeing the great
ness of the salvation about to be
achieved, left their celestial home and
fastened earthward to sing their no.
blest song above the birthplace of
Him who through wisdom and love
was destined to bring all souls at
last to God? So, whether Mary and
Joseph saw them or not, the shining
ones were with them that night; and
whether the shepherds heard them
or not, the multitude of the heavenly
host did sing their anthem of praise
and gladness above the star-lit plain
of Bethlehem.
| have said that the story of the
circumstances attending the birth of
Jesus, whether truth or fiction, is
at least an apt metaphor of his subse-
quent fortunes. This holds true even
in respect to the contrast between the
earthly and the heavenly attitude to-
ward the event of the Nativity. The
first symbolizes the view taken of his
life and ministry by the people of
his own time; while the last CORE
spends to the aspect which his work
assumes for us who behold it through
the perspective furnished by the two
thousand years of Christian history.
In those days there were many
things which the world regarded as
of transcendant Importance. At Rome
statesmen and warriors were intrigu-
ing and fighting for control of the
empire that promised to endure for
ever. In Greece artists sought to
immortalize their names by the
beauty of the statues which they
carved and the temples which they
reared. At Athens and Alexandria
the various schools of philosophy were
endeavoring to establish the struct-
ure of human welfare upon founda
ton of knowledge; and in Judea the
advent of a political messiah was i'm
patiently expected. These were the
great and absorbing interests of the
age, in comparison with which the
ministry of Jesus appeared altogether
too insignificant to merit the scholars
attention, the historians record, or
the poets eulogY. Nevertheless, the
Roman Empire has passed away;
the Jewish dream has not been real.
lied; the art of Greece survives only
as a glorious memory; the Alexan-
drian wisdom is obsolete; and we can
almost say that the only vital infu
ence which has persisted through the
ages is that of the life and Gospel
which enriched the world with new
idea of human greatness and happi-
ness,-ushered in new type of civil