The herald., 1897-12-26
GLORY to God In the highest, and on
Earth peace. goodwill toward men"

1lOTy u 1Ou tIIC anu Oil
Earth peace, goodwill toward men,"
So sang the heavenly hosts in prophecy
about two thousand years ago to
the shepherds, who, guided by the star
in the east, journeyed on to Bethlehem
and the manger where the Christ child
lay wrapped in its swaddling clothes.
The Child thrived and grew to man.
hood, lived His brief span on earth as
none other has ever lived before nor
since and left behind Him as priceless
legacy the matchless example of per-
feet life. And yet in the centuries that
have rolled by, there has been little
peace on earth, and less good will.
Men have warred with themselves
and with one another. If there has not
been active hatred, malice and all I'M
charitableness' manifested, neither has
there been any too much of love shown
for God or humanity, nor of sympathetic
tenderness for fellow beings, nor of toll
Grafton for anybody nor anything ex-
cept in concrete cases. "Do unto others
as ye would they should do unto you,"
has gradually been revised until it has
evolved into "Do others or they will do
YOU" and in his efforts to "do" others,
his own undoing, sooner or later, here
or below.
In the mad rush and scramble after
Individual wealth, in the frantic race for
fame, or glory, or other material success.
men have trampled ruthlessly and re-
lentlessly upon those weaker fellow men
nearest them, and upon their own best
instincts and impulses at the same time.
IT, hoe 1Nyyt cpNt ri
them on to fresh effort and larger gain
until they have found no time to enjoy
peace in their own hearts and have
failed to develop any marked inclination
to show good will to their neighbors.
Each century has been crowded with
its own complications; perpleXing intri-
cacies have arisen on all sides every
where; generation after generation mas
lived and struggled and died, leaving
modern life an inextricable maze, an
apparently hopelessly tangled sKeln
with the broken ends of thwarted de-
sire and fruitless endeavor staring us
in the face every where.
And vet, paradoxical as it sounds, it Is
these very broken ends that give to the
social fabric it's main strength; that
form the warp and woof of it's stability.
They have been, for the most part, tried
by the crucial fire of experience. and they
stretch instead of breaking. They don't
unravel either, these stunted ends, Tor
in place of being threaded into shuttle
of intention, good or bad, they are tied
in a tight little knot of sturdy resolve,
from which there is no retreat.
Now all these things have been said
MANY times before, and infinitely bet
ter expressed. But even as the annl-
versary of the Nativity repeats itsell
year after year bringing with 1t the
"good tidings of great joy which shall
be to all, people," so does 1t also bring
to the thoughtful mind, realization OF
how the prophecy of peace and gooo
will'' has been unfultilled in the past
and will continue to be unfulflled unit
men and women shall make it theil
first duty, at this time, If at no other
to contribute each his or her In
dividual share, and just as large as may
be, of substantial good will toward the
end that peace may be enjoyed by Others
when his own peace will naturally fol
low.
Statistics and history both go tt
show that it is not those who are the
most comfortably endowed with .thi:
worlds goods who are the least selfisf
nor the most thoughtful of others hap
piness or comfort The very fact OF be-
ing in easy circumstances tends tt
blunt ones perception to the needs O.
others, to imbue one with feeling o.
'laissez faire" regarding the condition
of those outside our own particular or
bit or circle of friends
1t is often a passive Incidence rathe
than an active intent of neglect, whicl
makes US careless of others well-being
but in the end it results in the SAM
unfortunate condition of things. W.
being comfortable, imagine others arr
also comfortable, whereas, II we bu
open our eyes we see want if not actua
distress on either hand.
= + +
Because we have neither extreme o
climate in Gods country we pat our
selves into serene and cheerful belle
that none of Gods children suffer her,
as they do elsewhere. But men ant
women and children get just as hungr!
here as they do in other parts Of th
world, so hungry in fact that either ;
fatal sunstroke or death by freezing
would be welcome relief from the des
perate gnawing of an empty stomach
A conservative estimate places tn
number of families in Los Angelo
which are in actual want at three hun
dred and fifty. Not an alarming per
centage for total population of 100000
Yet those $50 families are here; eacl
case has been carefully investigate,
:. and found to be worthy, and in tn
/. most abject need Of help. Each famil.
has been reduced to it's present desti
tute condition by misfortune, perhap
series of misfortunes; and in almos
every family there are from one to eigh