The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-12-29

empeKUI, anu Insn came the over-
whelrSpg arSTe OF Christ, Render to
Caesar Nhe things that are Caesars n
to God the things that are Gods"
Magnetic and epigrammatic this IN
spired peasant, Useless attempts he
declares as pearls cost before swine"
unimportant results he describes as the
attempt to gather figs OF this1les."
Allegcries. Why, the parallels are all
allegories, ard huw he flung them out
upon his audiences, whole armfuis OF
amethysts n emeralds and diamonds
and rubies.
VIEWED FROM WORLDLY STAND
POINT.
u we must not only look at him
from a worldly standpoint. How he
smote whirlwinds into silence and
made the waves of The sea lie down.
and opened doors OF light into the mid
night of those who a been born
blind, and turned deaf ears into CALLER
les Of music, and with one touch made
the scabs of incurable leprosy fall of,
and renewed healthy circulation
through severest paralysis, and made
the dead girl waken n ask for her
mother, and at his c~rucifixion pulled
down the clouds until at Il o'clock at
noon it was as dark as Il O'Clock a.
night, and starting an influence that
will go on until the last desert will
grow roses, n the last weak lung
make full inhalation, and the last case
of paresis AXE healthful brain, and the
last illness become rubicund of cheek
and robust of chest and bounding OF
foot. and the last pauper will get
his palace, and the last sinner taken
unto the warm bosom of a p~ardoning
God! Where did all this start? In
that cradle within sound of bleating
sheep and believing cattle and amid
rough bantering of herdsmen and cam
el drivers What a low place to start
for such great heights, o artists. turn
your camera obscure on that village
of Bethlehem Take it all in-the win
try skies lowering, the fiocks shivering
in the chill air, Mary, the pale mother,
and Jesus, the child. No wonder that
Pau VeroneSe and Cuyp and Rubens
and Tintoretto and C~orreggio and Pc
rugino and Ghirlandajo and Raphael
put their best pencils in that scene.
Lord God, by thy gracious spirit, fix
that Madonna in all our souls! So
these thoughts come in upon US at this
gladdest part of the year.
Swing softly, bells, on Christmas morn,
Wake not the King of Glory!
Swing soft and swift across the M
The old Judaean story.
So 1 ave shown you the shadows
and the sunshine of that Christie era
die of Bethlehem. In these Christmas
times 1 realize hat there are many
cradles under shadows. Oh, the story
CT empty cradles all up and down the
earth, in cabins and in palaces! There
are standing in garrets or in storeroonls
cradles that will never rock again
Rachel mourning for her children and
| will not be cOmforted because they are
not" But through all he shadows
break CLEANS Of sunshine, as the clouds
of the Christie cradle were cleft by
glorious light. Escaped from the
struggles through which we have al
passed and must yet pass, those little
ones took heaven at one pound. In
stead of an earthly career it is a heav-
emily career, with capacities, with We.
l~ocities, with opportunities beyond oul
comprehension. Instead of celebrating
on earth the Saviour's birth they stanC
in the Saviour'S presence. Instead Of
the holiday celebrations of the ole
homestead it is to them eternal jubile,
at a table where the angels of God arr
the cupbearers and amid festivitie,
that resound with a laughter and
music and blaze with a brilliance ant
a glory that eye hath not seen no
ear heard" Nc use in wishing them {
merry Christmas, for the merriment
of heaven ring out upon them from
temples that are always open, annie
pleasures that never die. Oh, it is no
a dull heaven, but a lively heaven, TO,
there are SO many children there! The.
thrOng the streets; they look out o
the House Of Many Mansions" the!
stand on the beach to see the fleet
cast anchor within the vale; the.
crowd the gates with greetings whel
the old folks come in; they clap thei
hands in an eternal gladness; the,
dance in an eternal glee. See you no
the sunshine that pours into the shad
dows of that cradle until they are al
gone?
THE USE OF SHADOWS.
But shadows have their uses. Their
must be a background to every goot
picture. Turner always put at leas
one f1eck Of cloud on his an
the clouds of earth will be the back
ground to bring out more nightly tn
brightness Of heaven. And will it no
be glorious if after all this scene O
earthly vicissitude we meet again IL
our Fathers house and talk over tn
past in an everlasting holiday. Blu
meanwhile, look out for the cradles
How much they decide for this worl
and the next! When Wellington wa
born at Mornington, England, that de
cided Waterloo and saved Europe
When Handel was born in Halle, Sax
iOny, that decided the oratorios of "Ju
das Maccabaeous" and Esther an,
Israel In Egypt" and "Jepthah" an,
Messiah" When Eli Whitney wa
born at Westboro, that decided tn
wealth of all the cotton fields Of tn
south. When Gutenberg was born a
Metz, Germany. hat decided the libra
ries Of all Christendom. When Clark
son Was born in Cambridgeshirc, Eng
land, that decided the doom of human
bondage. When Morse was born a
Breeds Hill, Mass, that decided tina
the E~gftnings Of heaven should becom
gallop,De courfers or stretch a throb
bling iron rerve clear under the sea
When Washington was born ct West
moreland, Va, hat decided American
Independence. When Christ was borl
at Bethel em, that decided the redamp
| tiao nf tho world oh 1anE M f,r n