The news & observer., 1896-12-25
CHRISTMAS MORNING


He shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost.-Mark, il, :.
In each years aggregate of days there
are two which have special spiritual
significance-the day Of the Manager and
the day OF Resurrection. With the spirit
Of these great historic occasions in his
heart man is equipped for the present
and the future. He has the secret of no
BILE living. and he loses all dread of death.
They are corner stones on which to build
an ideal character. They enable one TO
change the vicissitudes of life into step
ping stones to higher things.
When the Christ was born the door OF
heaven opened and we caught a glimpse
of our eternal destiny; when lie rose from
the dead the wondrous truth or immor-
taility descended from the region OF
speculation and became n revealed fact.
When a man has been taught how to
live and convinced that death is only a
figment of the imagination, he is like a
trained warrior to whom no emergency
can bring dismay.
1t is scarcely to be wondered at, then,
that at this season the Christian world
gives itself to grateful memories commin-
gled with manifold rejoicings. The COM
ing days of this week are not merely
serious on account OF their associations:
they are also joyful because of the priv
ileges and delights which they bring. The
carol fills the air with music, the holly
decora les our homes, the yule log blazes
on the hearth, the evergreen on whose
branches hang such gifts of love as help
to make the day memorable--these are
the delight Of young and old.
That Christmas Morning was of so
great Importance to mankind that it has
ever since been a boundary line between
ancient and modern history. The old. vol
ume was closed and clasped with a clasp,
and on the first page of the new volume
was written, THE Christ is bornp' The
Manger was the source of such startling
revelations that it required several CEN
turies for men to put aside the imperfect
but still glorious conceptions of God and
duty which had been the foundation OF
their social and their private life, and to
build on the old site new structure so
generous in its overhanging roof that
under it all nations could find shelter
and an altar.
Christ is a royal parsonage, but His
sovereignty is over the soul. With the
victory OF arms, with civil pomp and
splendor, He has nothing to do; but He
reigns supreme in the dominion Of ideas.
He has shown us that the mind and not
the sword is the power that decides des-
tiny. That which is Caesars will pass
away, but that which is Gods will re-
main. The tramp of any army is impress
siye, but the quiet march of the truth
is sublime. The one is like a thunder
storm which for the time being is terrible,
IL not quite onrnipotent; the other is SIM
ply the sunshine before whose ADVANCE
the darkness steals away with stealthy
tread, but without the noise or conflict
which generally accompanies retreat.
Christ is here, and that means that some
other things must not be here. Where
war prevails you find devastation; where
Christ rules you find wheat and corn and
orchards. We could no more go back to
the ethics or the faith of ancient days,
grand as they were for those who enjoyed
them, than we could return 10 the rude
life Of the wigwam or the cave dwellers.
1t is told of the great master of geome-
try and mechanics, Archimedes, that on
one occasion he said:-"Giye me where
| may stand, and | will move the world y
If he could find a fulcrum and lever
beyond the earth he could pry this solid
ball from its place. The power that he
dreamed Of as mechanical was used by
Christ in the domain of spirit. The full
crum, or support for His lever, was His
revelation of the divinity of man, his His
lever was the secret of noble living which
He disclosed. BY His life and death
He disclosed. BY His life and death
plane of action on which we find aspira-
tons never before realized.
There is one other matter in this con
nection which is as remarkable as it is
comforting namely, that Christ and the
angels were in constant relations with
each other. Heaven was always close al
hand. How much their sympathy was
worth to Him, to what degree He was
supported by their presence, we may nev-
er know; but that the hosts of another
world were never far away is a very
important factor of His life for us to CON
slider, because the fact reveals our own
possibilities.
| know that God is our Father, and
therefore believe that in that great com
pany which sang the overture of peace
and good will were some who may have
come TO earth many and many time
since those old days to bring joy to sor-
rowing households. Do not we also need
their helpful presence, and, though our
eyes are blinded that we cannot see them
as He did, may they not still be here
Our falling tears and our struggles with
hardships call for them, and they cannot
fail to heed our yearning.
Let the bells, therefore, ring joyously;
spread the banquet and embrace the dear
ones, old and young, of the broken fami-
ly circle, remembering that the day will
come which He has promised when the
family circle will be complete again
when with wedding garments we shall
see Him face TO face. And so in spite
of sad memories or present sorrow, this
shall be happy Christmas for us all.
GEORGE FL. HEPWORTH.