The professional world. (Columbia, Mo.) 1901-192?, 1901-12-20
CHRISTMAS
THOUGHTS =

w III W Z ll
overflow touch hearts
and places where joy and abundance are
unknown.
1t takes possession of us, this recurring
revelation of what the great birthday means.
Mothers, filling the stockings of their little
ones beside thenursery fires, remember bare,
half-frozen feet uncovered in the wintry
SHOWS, and seeing the jolly, rosy faces over
flowing with delight in the light of Christ
mas morning, they are glad that little
grimy and hunger-pinched children, UNI
known to them, are somewhere in distant
quarters receiving some joy of their giving,
sent by faithful hands. For this one day
they have a sisterly realization of what it
means to see a child suffer and be power
less to relieve.
The man of fashion and of the world, hap
pening to catch a glimpse of a tattered shoe
black staring into a bright shop, or a group
of dirty newsboys fighting for bits of ever
green dropped at a church door, will feel
a sudden impulse to join the workers at a
public Christmas tree, and for those hours
will give out the charm which wins him ia
vor at many a stately home, in order to give
zest to the merriment of the worthy gather
ing in some great hall. Something tugs at
his heart, a half-formed thought awakens
in his mind: 81 really must do something for
these poor little mites! | daresay a few dol
lars, now and then, would do a great deal
for them, when Christmas is over" The
struggling embryo of brotherhood in his
heart is nearly strong enough to live, but
the environment of tomorrow will stifie it,
1t is good to think, says the New York
Evening Post, of the joy of the fair outside
show of the holiday; all the glitter and
brightness of hospitable tables with dear
ones gathered, old and young, about them;
it is pleasant to think of the jolly schoolboy
and the gentle grandmother, side by side
1t warns and cheers to feel the cordial
handshake of a friend or receive a greeting
of remembrance across the dividing sea. IL
rouses dear memories and touches sealed
fountains to hear the old melodies familiar
since childhood, and ever new, as true things
always are. 1t is like a reviving wine to one
that is weary to find, though absent, we are
not forgotten.
But above this rises the ennobling infiu
ence which overleaps barriers and demarca
tions, and reaches out a generous, uplift'
ing hand to those who are bound down by
the hard fortune of a degraded life. The
spirit of Christmas is the spirit of the uni
versal brotherhood Of the race. 1t may
seem a small thing for a rich man to send
his poor neighbor a dinner, but it blesse'
twice; he that gives and he that takes il
blessed. Even though the giver's thought:
rose no higher than that he would divide
his ov~erabundance with the hungry, his
unconscious act has taken a first step to ac
knowledging his brothers claim. "Shart
with me" is the unspoken meaning of his
gift. 81 cannot be comfortable alone in my
wealth. We are of the same race, begotter
by the same Divine Father; it is our Elder
Brothers birthday. Let us keep the feast
Christina Rosetti, whose fervent heart il
like a warming fame to colder ones, sing'
this tender song:
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Stars and Angels gave the Sign.
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for gift and plea and Sign.
Many a custom, firm through centuries Of
use, may die out; full many a thing mer
once revered may be covered out of sight
by the dust of the earth; but the more
humanity seeks the welfare and the uplift'
ing of man, the more true and loyal will be
the honor we give to Christmas Day.
Once again has New Years day come
around, and as we look back over the