Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-12-25
Tuesday, December IS, 1906.
Christmas Day.

vcrSaries and festivals which it OBJ.
as in the United States we have oul
Independence day, our Memorial day
and our Thanksgiving day which are
peculiar to ourselves-but Christmas il
common to all lands, and is the most
generally and most joyfully celebrated
of all holidays. 1t is perhaps too much
to say that the only civilized lands are
the Christian lands, but it will hardly
be denied that the lands where civil.
cation is the highest, the lands where
humanity has made the greatest adj
sibilities, where manhood is strongest
and wOmanhUod the most respected,
are the lands where the beautiful story
of the babe in the manger of Bethle-
hem. Of the angels that sang to the
shepherds who watched their fiocks by
night. and of the star that guided the
wise men, is being told over again to-
day. 1t is an old, old story. but always
new and fresh; always full of beauty
and inspiration. of hope and promise.
BY whatever UNCONVENTIONAL name
we are known, whatever our wrangles
over creeds or criticisms. dogmas or
interpretations, we can all agree that
Christ is the great and central figure
of all human history. Time itself is
reckoned in terms of His coming into
the world. whose anniversary we are
now celebrating. The greatest crea-
tions of art and music and literature
have been inspired by the story of His
birth and death, His life work and His
sufferngs. Those who dispute the di-
vinity of Christ, admire His teachings
and admit that He was the one perfect
man. Both the atheist who denies
and the agnostic who does not know,
show the wisdom of clinging to the
habitations of men who believe in
Christ. And all the events of all these
centuries which we count as making
for the progress and betterment of hu-
tluence which the old world first felt
when Mary. the wife of Joseph. held
her first-born in her arms. Just as in
His life, SO through all the years since
the tragedy Of Calvery was enacted
there has been bitter denunciation,
scoffing. ridicule and argument But
he. -1,.,I
and ridiculed and argued are forgotten.
while Christ was never 50 great a
force in the world as He is today.
Above the wrecks of time still towers
mistaken the Cross, and the light il
sheds is ever more beautiful and far
reaching. Had the story of Christmas
been merely a sentiment and a super
StitiOn. instead of the divine and
deathless reality that it is. the name
of Christ would long ago have found
oblivion and His teachings lost in a
us.
What small and empty world it
was when Christ came into it. Off to
the South of Palestine was Egypt.
once a great land but with only monu-
mcnts of its greatness remaining.
To the west was Greece, the home of
the arts, where Plato taught and Sap
pho sang; Greece with it's many gods,
but lack of One. 1t was Greece but iiv-
m arfh
imperial and immortal Rome. ruling
the world from its seat by the yellow
Tibcr; the cruel and pagan Rome of
Caesar and OF Cicero framing the law
and sending forth its legions. Else
where was wilderness and desert
wastes; barbarian hordes that were
nameless and unstoried 1t was a
world of darkness and into it came the
light of the star Of Bethlehem A
new era began, an era long awaited
and of whose glorious unfolding we of
today are witnesses. In the light Of
that star humanity found a common
hope, common reverence a common
love. 1t was the great force that the
world needed to unity the races sep
aratcd by seas by language and by
customs; to unity them and lead them
up to better things
The significance and sacredness of
Christmas are lessened not in the
least by the doubt as whether this is
the exact anniversary Of the Saviour's
birth or Ly the fact that in its OBJ
servance we find the survival of pa
gan customs and emblems It is not
denied that Christmas falls at this sea-
on as the successor of the ancient
heather festival in honor Of the winter
solstice when the days cease to grow
shorter and the birth Of new wear i
at hand. This was the season of the
Roman saturnalia, a period of license
and merry-making. time of feasting
and the pjvinp of ey;ftc Tbo WI,