The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-12-26

human being; a God who wanted tC
creep into the human hearts affections
even as the sunbeams would steal into
the heart and give new life to the
plant. 1t was difficult, in one sense
for God to teach sinful men that he did
not want to crush them, but to save
them of their own free will 1t was
difficult for him to teach all men, both
Jew and gentle, that Christ did not
come as Hebrew Christ, but as the
worlds Saviour. So, if we may use an
imaginative description, God the Fa-
ther might have spoken to Jesus Christ
in way something like this: 81 will
not allow thee, my only Son, to be born
in a palace. l will not allow thee to
enter the world as an earthly prince.
Sinful men might then honor thee and
fear thee, but they might not then take
thee into their hearts and of their own
accord love thee and give themselves
to thee. l will send thee forth as a
helpless babe. l will let thee be born
in Bethlehem Of JudRa, so helpless
that the lowliest of the lowly will not
have a more humble entry into the
world than thou. Go forth, my Son.
not only to atone for the sins of the
world but also to teach all sinful men
that l am God the Father the God of
Love" Could the divine love have
been manifested in more simple way
than by Christ's cradle being the man
ger of Bethlehem of JudRa?
M,
On Oct 90 1895, | was brought face
to face with the true teachings of the
manger Christ as never before. 1t was
one of the most overwhelming days of
my life. 1t happened in Bethlehem of
Judaa. l was sitting in the Greek
Catholic church, which is supposed to
have been erected directly upon the
identical spot where Jesus was born.
In that hallowed place | had read over
and over again the account of the ma
tivity until it. seemed as though the
walls of the eastern edifice were chang
ed into q stable and the light which
was burning upon the altar was can
delight held in the carpenter Joseph's
hand, and while read the nativity ac-
count over and over l suddenly heard
the soft whisperings of a chant. lis
tened and at first said: at cannot be.
No; am listening only to the echoes of
my own imagination" But the faint
chanting began to grow louder. Then
l saw a multitude of people coming
through the church door as the shep-
herds must have once crowded through
the entrance of the ancient stable. Then
the procession came nearer and nearer
and laid at my feet the body of little
child. AS sat there and looked at the
face of the dead baby whose funeral
was now taking place my heart went
out in sympathy to the poor mother. l
seemed to be carried back to the time
when the Divine Babe lay in that sta
BILE manger, shielded by the mother
love, which is always a divine love- and,
standing by the Bethlehem manger,
with the dead body of that village babe
at my feet, could realize, as you in the
same surroundings could have realized,
that Gods love for all his children is
tender pleading, yearning love, divine
love which "passeth all understanding"
and which abides with us through life
and beyond death.
The manger Christ was given as q
human example for sinful man to fol-
low this side of the grave. He came to
prove that by the grace of God it is pos
sible for a human being to overcome
sin; he came to prove it, because Christ
was born just as we are, bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh He was
tempted just as we are tempted. There
fore we must continually, by the Holy
Spirits power, strive to be like him or
else we can be none Of his.
We all realize the power of inspiring
example in naval and military life.
When Admiral Dewey was asked what
was his chief inspiration which caused
him to enter Manila harbOr, the hero
Of the Spanish-American war answer
ed: "The name of Farragut. AS |
steamed toward the Philippines l kept
saying to myself, what would the hero
of Mobile bay do if he were in my
place? Lashed in the rigging, he
would defy the torpedoes and cry to
the engineers to go ahead, and so into
Manila harbor | went" The victory
Of the Pacific ocean was only the echo
Of Admiral Farragut's guns at Mobile
bay-the daring exploit inspired by
heroic example. In the darkest days
Of the Wilderness, when the Confeder-
ate lines were cut in twain, General
Lee drew his sword and placed himself
at the head of his troops General
Gordon declared that this heroic action
moved his soldiers to perfect frenzy
Of physical and moral courage. And
as a result of this example of their
great leader, a successful charge was
made. So God the Father gave to sin
'ul men the human example of the
hanger for a purpose. God practically
zones to you and me and says: 80
sinful man, your salvation was not
Itonement performed in heaven. To
edeem you from sin more was needed
han sacrifice. 1t was necessary to set
before you an ideal life. Therefore
ny only begotten Son took upon him
human form and lived among you
that you might see what human nature
can become when God dwells in it. l
allowed Christ to lie in q manger that
you, o children, might copy his life
when Jesus was little boy. l did this
so that you, o man and woman, could
copy his matured life when you are In
the great struggle of earning a daily
livelihood. l did this so you might for
IF human example, who was tempted