The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-12-22

quickly that this the first nmaton he had of his approach
Bah" said Scrooge, "humbugF' Christmas
"a humbug unceP said Scrooges nephew.
"You don't mean that am sure"
II do said Scrooge
Outside the New Testament where shall we find the Christ
mas spirit beautifully and atractvey illustrated as in Dick
enss Christmas Carol We have friend who reads this carol
every year the Christmas and who reads Charles
Lambs essay New Years Eveon the last night the year.
good habit
We have just been reading the sacred record Of that far off
birth around which the Christmas history and the Christmas
noetrv have GROWN How wonderful the story Of the star the
wise the Shepherds the Dreams the chorng angels the
heavenly disclosures the marvellous voices and strange visions
Yes wonderful indeed to prosaic Occidental minds But
nothing marvellous to the uxrant imagination OF the ORIENT
In the West here have made great gulf between earth and
heaven the mystic East the and the fade
each other like the dawn into the day The gods and men are
not strangers, and miracles in June
Sweeaced Mary dream on with the tender pathos Of spot
less motherhood broodng your babe in whose life lie hid
den the mysteries of human redemption and divine love!
Lie still and sleep Marybreast Wondrous Child
from the cree and the contume and the Cross
the world shall offer thee in for thy gift of Eternal Life
Grave, patient Joseph nursing quietly the hidden intima
tons and the hopes that EMBODIED thy first born sohow
little did thy ambitious forecast hint the work and world
wide mission of thy boy named Jesus!
We the history only through the haze of memory the
spectaces Of tradition The huyng years neither will
they stay their mad haste for either Judas Jesus Time
has heart He needs neither smiles Humanity has
no power the chronology of the universe
Yet ever the Nativity of Savior the cycle of
the years the heart of Chstendom responds to its gentle SYM
pathetic generous charitable spirit and think of
emeS with less severity We grow in thought and
large aectionate interest," our mediaton and sen
biles evaporae and utter
kindly word and perform gracious and Christian
The spirit of Christmas is the giving of gifts. And if
find in what the true art of giving consists what
the gifts ought desire npart depart widely from
1.-The superficial conventional habits and of modern
Christendom
The first Christmas gift Jesus Christ hmse-the Babe
of Betlehem-Son God So of Man He was and u.s. our
best evidence of the Divinity of Man and the Humanity OF God
There is little in twentieth century Chrsmas-this
first one-to shame and horr1fy.
O. what revelations, to the roofs OF the
city and what God sees-the grief the agony
passion the baseness the hypocrisy the loneliness the silent
tears drenching the pillow in the night
But we fobear Hide may the ghastly spectres and
the deous ghoulsh remOreess shades and demons they
list They skuk in the shadows They stink away the dark
They before the advance of the angels They senced
by the songs of the celestial chorbu they not dead
Think England you celebrate the birth of your Christ
heirsof the graves South Africa and the mothers who
are weeping!
Think O America, you lift your anthems of peace and
goodwill of the islands the Pacific where the horror of wars
awful savagery still destroys the life of Gods children
O. spirit of Christmas bring to all hearts and all
homes and all churches and all nations and all
wordhe unspeakabe gift of Godthe supremacy and domi-
ion of the spirit of Jesus Christ
With this hope realized Christmas in 1901 would mark the
beginning of the Golden Age With this hope unrealzed
Christmas in though precious and beautiful and cheer
ing will not be what we feel it ought to be-
Some day the true Christmas will dawn We will never give
TIP looking for that great dayand God bless everyone