Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-19
CHRISTIAN ENlEAvOR HOUR

VtANhoAlhiN LLNHLfAVON HUM
Conducted By
GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL.
For December 20.
Topic; "A vision of worid,wtds Peace Christ
mas).'-Isaiah Il: SO; II: 9.
6. Tho wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall Ne down with the kid /;
and the calf and tse young lion and the fat
ling together; and q little child shall lead
them.
Z. And the cow and the bear shall feed;
their young ones shall he down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the OK.
8. And the sucking child shall play on
the hole of the asp. and, the weaned child
shall put his hand on the cockatrice den.
0. They shall not hurt nor destroy In all
my holy mounain; for the earth shall DO
full OF the knowledge Of the Lord. as the
waters cover the sea-.
Isaiah ix:6-For unto US a child Is born.
unto US a son is given; and the government
shall be upon his shoulder; and his name
shall be called Wonderful. Counsellor, the
mighty God, the everlasting Father, the
Prince OF Peace.
If In the dawn Of this Christmas morning
1903 a strange and wonderful star should
appear In our si1y, and as we all went out
at the cry to see. there should come the
rushing Of many wings, and the air about us
should be filled with myriads of angels
singing their old. new song of peace, how
should we be startled We would look into
one another's faces, some glorified. some
frightened by the mystery, and ask: What
does this meany" And many would begin
to regret that they had been engrossed in
things earthly that this sudden appearance
brought them no great JOY.
Not one of us but would think at once
that the Christ must be coming again to the
earth. Not one of US but would remember
the worshiping wise men, the wonderful
shepherds, and watch the star Tor some sign
of guidance.
HE is coming!' we should say in wonder
to each other, when we had got over the
first surprise. He is really come at last,
thought It would come in our generation
Listen to the angels song. Peace! What
will it be like to have peace on earth!
And then there would be great silence,
while we traced out in our minds what
universal peace would mean. Peace among
men! Peace even among the animals. and
creeping thirgs of earth. Peace because the
Wonderful, the Mighty God, has come at
last to reign over His own.
No more would there be need for our pet
ty reforms, our feeble tryings toward max
ing our corner of the world better. NO
more would our own small upstandings TOT
the right matter SO much, when Christ mad
come to His own, and every eye could see
Him, and the earth was as full Of the
knowledge of Him as the waters cover the
sea! Our time then would be over. our
chance to help In the coming of the king
dom pastI Would there be any regrets that
we had done SO little toward bringing this
great thing to pass?
We all agree, those, of us who believe In
Jesus. that some day this worldwide peace
will be established, that Christ will reign
from pole to pole and that Christmas will
be the great day of all days of rejoicing.
There may be many differences Of opinion
as to how this will come about. It Is not
likely to be heralded as was Chrtsts birth
by stars and angels in the identical way.
for God has ever new ways Of opening His
dispensations, and 1t Is likely If We are liv-
ing then we shall be taken unawares just
as were the shepherds Of old.
And now, though we cannot expect to see
the vision Of star with our mortal eyes.
nor be favored with visit from visible an
gels. this Christmastide. if we listen we may
hear faint echo of that song ringing down
the ages. and to. each. open heart 1t will
bring Christmas message. In your corner
of the world have you. done the best you
could to bring this worldwide peace? Has
1t come. first, In your own heart. then in
your home, then In your neighborhood? r
And to have peace in. our own hearts we
must have Jesus Born into them anew every
blessed Christmas day. and put the govern
ment Of our lives upon His shoulder. For
unless the government is given over to Him
there is no peace, for self will rule. Where
self rules there is constant war wife life,
with men. with principles. with everything.
Then when once ypu are sure you have
given, the governing or yourself entirely to
Jesus and are at peace with God, look about
upon your home. Are you; at peace with
every member OF the family there? Or does
your sister feel that you haye been selfish
about using more of the closet room and oc-
cupying the best of the bureau drawers in
the room she shares with you? Does your
mother feel that you are not bearing with
her some of the responsibilities of the
family that she has asked you to under
take and you have most reluctantly as
sisted with until she has sighed and done it
herself? Does your brother feel that you,
have made fun of some of his dearest pro-
tects and are always trying to pick quar-
rel with him, or tell some misdeed OF his
before the family? Are any of these things
true? If So. you have much to do to help
bring about this universal peace. For did
you ever think that unless your corner of
life has peace. no matter If 1t were every
where else 1t would not be complete until
your part Is done?
And peace on earth includes the girl you
do not like. the young man who has done
you an i'll turn in some way. Perhaps there
whom you are not on speaking terms on
account of some petty trouble between you?
1t may be even that you are not the one at
fault. Yet it would not hurt you this Christ
mas day to write note: Dear friend: 1t
has come to my thoughts that you and are
marring this Christmas peace by the feeling
that is between us. have not been able
to feel that was at fault in the matter
but 1t may be that was in part to blame.
and I ask your forgiveness for anything
you feel you have against me. Shall we not
ask Christ to take away all Ill feeling and
give us His peace? I send you this little
card as Christmas greeting"
That would perhaps be an odd thing to do,
but not hard thing. And you cannot know
how much peace you would thereby bring to
both your hearts until you have tried.
Applied Truth.
It Is said that on Christmas day, 1854
during the civil war, the Union army was
intrenched before Petersburg Constant
had been going on all the
morning. While some OF the officers were
eating their Christmas dinner the firing
suddenly ceased. and d deep silence fell
upon the long line of trenches.
1.-THE Johnnies~ have hoisted a flag, SIR"
said sergeant as he emerged from pit
near by. "a
what for?" demanded the captain
"They say it's Christmas day and think
we have wasted enough ammunition.
The enemy's line was scarcely hundred
yards away, and along its ragged edge
were ranged thirty or forty heads of thu
ron fad ta So1diarS Nhila ha IYp;op upa