Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1904-12-14

=
s1ESesBI children such doctrine might as
(7fNASkSSA we'll prepare to suffer all manner Of
RNzpFJCGV punishmeDt in the life to come.
And the people actually sat there and believed him,
and some resolves to take his threat to heart says
q space writer in the Memphis Scimitar.
If ever there was bit Of narrOwness and misdi-
reeted religious ZEAL all mixed up, it was found In
this assertion, and, somehow, one can only feel
wholesale amount Of sorrow for man who WSuld so
willingly rob childhood of it's chief Joy.
Aside from the imagagery that endOws the grace
OF giving with personality, It s fact that there is
Santa Claus, for it Is the sanctifed spirit Of giving,
and il the trusting mind Of childhood must needs en-
dow this grace with all the traits and personalities
OF Bice iOvial, benevolent old gentleman, where's
the harmf The young mind must have always
something tangible on which to pin its faith
To tell OF Santa Claus and his good is not to tell
lie after ALL for can reason 1t all out on the basis
OF modern ethics and arrive ct conclusion thai will
always justify the means
Suppose one grants that fostering the Santa Claus
Nidea is fostering lie, there more beauti
lie, or one that is more easily excusedi And does
there exist today q man or woman who regrets the
belief in this mrth It made childhood all the
sweeter while it lasted, and has made the memory
OF that childhood dOubtly sacred because Of the
trust, the hope, the infinite Joy that it brought.
One Of the proofs always used in settling any
question nowadays is the test Of time; the Santa
Claus myth has stood this test aud will doubtless
stand it for ages longer Whether it be little Italian
children putting candles in their window to guide
the infant Jesus when He fares that way, or the
RaxeRha German children patting their wooden
shoes ia of straw ct the doorway 70 feed the donkey
which the Chrst.Chid will ride when BE comes, or
the American child hanging his stockings BY the
fireplace Sor ovia Santa Claus to al, the spirit that
actuates the deed is the same and the faith s the
same and the reward that comes tsalways the same.
The spirit Il loving and giving is worldwide and
WOrld-deep, and is the touch Of combined humanity
and divinity that makes al the world Kin.
Teach faith IN Santa Claus, for Il means the spirit
Of giving and there is not boy OF girl who laIns
It the days Of infancy that viii not be the better for
It when he is older and w0rld-weaFy aud worldly
wise.
Christmas tme is the festival Of children in which
the wishes end beliefs of the older people should
take secondary place. It is theirs By right OF
heritage from One who was born sf woman nine
teen centuries ago, and grew up ct his mothers
knee as other little children grow, and suffered the
disc0miOrtnlOf poverty and daily work, other boys
do, doing eli this in order to cOnseerate child
hood for ali the years that have passed since then,
and for all the years yet to come. To take away
one lot or title Of their enjoyment for that time, TO
bear down anyone OF their cherished beliefs to bring
one bit Of disappointment to mar the great
festivaltime for one Of these, s great sin as it
is to 60 into sacred temple and tear down the i'm
ages Of the gods and cast the sacrifices and flowers
under foot,
The late Thomas Mast claimed that be originated
the ideaOf Santa Claus when he first drew him with
big white beard and ruddy cheeks. The assertion
was BIT Of vanity, for this picture OF the good
saint lived many hundreds Of years in the minds Of
little people before Thomas Mast ever saw the light
Of day. The persOnifed idea goes back to the Mid
die Ages; the spirit further still.
Keep the good saint always fresh In the minds OF
the little people; the world viii bring enough disap-
pOntments and shattered idols to the believers when
they are grown. But childhood can be spared this
yet awhile.