The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-12-25
OLD CHRISTMASES.
BY CHARLES WAGNER, AUTHOR OF 1.-THE SIMPLE LIFE"


Copyright, 1904, by Mcclure, Phillips Coz
It often happens that observances are
more closely followed which are left to
the good will of each, than those which
have been designed and prescribed.
An instance of this is the comment
Grafton of the birth of Christ, compared
with that of His death.
For the latter Christ took measures.
He who had hardly instituted or appoint
ed anything. taught His disciples to take
bread and wine together In remembrance
of him. He uttered upon that occasion
words which have remained venerable
among all and followed them with the
quest: This do in remembrance of me-"
!. Now, 1t has happened that this solemn
repast has become through the ages the
meeting ground of controversy. SINH
larly, in certain families, days of reun-
ion are days of battle. Not one word
pronounced by Christ on the last even
ing of his life has had the fortune to
pass peacefully down history. Every one
of them has been the toy of sectarian i'm
aginations sectarian heat And now
that the antagonists have Gained down,
indifference has succeeded hostility. The
Last supper is deserted. Where 1t is cell
! ebrated, how rare are true communions
Do we not appear at it usually, like mere
figures in a picture of fraternity, beled
by facts?
Was that what Jesus asked OF us, when,
already upon the threshold Of the invis-
ible world he left us this prayer; This
do In remembrance of me?"
As to his birth, Christ gave no thought
to the manner of it's celebration by his
disciples. They do not appear to have
remembered 1t during his life. Had he
ever any knowledge of the adorable
stories begarlanding his crib for us? 1t
is hardly probable. And behold, that for
gotten, neglected birthday has con-
quered a place of honor. 1t is celebrated
in conditions in which the Saviour might
recognize his own purposes. To speak of
one aspect only: Jesus loved children as
no one has ever loved them. Let them
come to mel he said to the lofty apos-
ties, anxious to guard Him from that
merry unruly crowd, suspected inca
pable of edihcation. No doubt, those
most serious ancestors of our traditions
had occasion that day, and often in sim
liar circumstances, to believe the Mas
ter touched with a harmless insanity.
No matter, the intentions of the Son
of Man have been largely realized. His
birthday has become the day of tho
children. No earthly day has shed more
brightness upon their path No church
festival gives more life to the immeas-
urable truth of the promise: IT shall be
with you to the end of the world" None
makes 1t sweeter to the heart.
Christmas has a charm beyond them
ALL 1t was the Christian soul, filled full
with Jesus. created this festival. Every
generation has given 1t something of its
own. There has been rivalry OF good
WILL In the Eucharist, according to a
doctrine, the abuse of which must not
make us forget its true and sorrowful
profoundness, Christ dies from age to
age for our sins and will suffer until the
last sinner is saved In the radiance of
Christmas, Christ smiles eternally upon
the little ones, and the grown-up who
can make themselves children again
Where else In the world can one find
such an accumulation of memories? The
Chrstmasses of his childhood light up
a blessed corner in the heart of every
man. The more he becomes aged an
and joyless. the brighter shines the
light there, in the beloved past.
Let me close my eyes, forget the pres
ent, and for a moment live over again
the happy times when I had a grand
father, a grandmother, a father and
mother, and all the wealth of life and
hope God sows so bountifully in the
childish soul
I can see on winter evenings, the white
earth and the glowing western sky. We
knew what 1t meant, that red glow. in
the neighborhood of Christmas day. Our
grandmothers had told us: The Christ
mas Lady is baking her cakes" And
the lively childish Imagination, to which
nothing is impossible, readily erected up