The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-01-02

then Mary has the highest honor
known in the world and is we'll wor
thy all veneration. Believe as we will,
Mary has made motherhood divine,
and each cradle has deeper signifi
canoe since Jesus was child.
When Jesus came the world was
prepared for him. Those who argue
that the occasion makes the man, like
to point to Jesus as an example.
Those who think that the great man
is the one who takes advantage of the
occasion, also love to cite Jesus. But
in either instance we lose sight of
the fact that the occasion is usually
the result of the working out OF Gods
laws, and that the man is as equally
we'll developed as the occasion.
In the unfolding of mans religious
con ciousness, there came the time
when the world was ready for the SUI
preme gift, and Jesus came in that
time and revealed the gift. The SUI
preme gift, is what Drummond calls
the greatest thing in the world"
Love. The world was ready to be
saved, some would say. That may
be true, but in higher sense, the
world was ready to learn of God, his
fatherhood and his love. This Jesus
revealed.
AS the angels brought the message
of good tidings of great joy to all the
people, so also did Jesus bring mes
sage. He came as the revealer of the
supreme gift of life, and his message
was love to God and love to man.
Those who consider Jesus as Gods
greatest gift to the world are not far
wrong, for with him came almost the
first conception of Gods love. Our
Universalist fathers did not dogma
Matte on the nature of Jesus, but
they were strong in the belief that
Jesus was the revealer of Gods ma
ture, and as they saw in Gods nature
that love was supreme; they all
taughtthat Jesus came to reveal Gods
love to humanity.
Let us then in this glorious season
lay aside our conflicting opinions
and join in celebrating the birth of
him who came to show Gods love to
all. Peace on earth was to follow the
advent of Jesus, and it is probable
that we have greater peace in many
ways today through the influence
that came with his life. We abhor
the conflicts of the world. We are
filled with horror at the reported at
rocities in other countries, we are
shocked at the many crimes, espec-
tally the wife murders, in our own
country. But we should not fall in
despair. We notice these because we
are so filled with the spirit of peace.
Once it was common thing for peo-
pie to war against each other for the
most trivial cause and in the most
brutal manner, and no one thought
it was wrong. The fearful deeds that
come to our ears with so shocking a
sound, were once considered the just
method of warning. And at one time
man would have thought the world
had gone wild if it deprived him of
such a pleasant pastime as killing
one of his wives.
The peace that has come with the
Christian era has taught us better
things, or mans nature working out
its better self has been helped by the
example and teachings of Jesus. We
are so affected by what once was not
known to be so wrong, that we think
we are living in fearful age. We
have advanced, and with the advance
ment has come quickened con-
science, so that we feel the absence of
the ideal peace. A great aid to ad-
vancement is the knowledge that we
are making some progress. He who
gropes in the dark has faint heart
though his battle is heroic. He who
sees that he is gaining, feels a new
courage thrill him. If we can see
that we have made even little pro-
gress toward the era of peace, then
we are encouraged to make greater
effort. In this time when we notice
the greed of nations as we never have
before, the stand which the United
States has taken of late in making
arbitration an almost settled princi-
pie, and the stand that she is COM
ing to take that the cruelty of Spain
must cease in Cuba, means that more
than ever the flag of this glorious
country is coming to mean the flag
of peace. And in the future when
the spirit of Christmas time shall
prevail, old glory will wave not
alone for freedom, but also for peace
on earth and good will toward all men.
Greater than the peace of Christ
mas, is the love that brings the peace.