Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-12-26

and take tho young child and Mary,
his mother, and fee into Egypt, and
be thou there until l bring thee word,
for Herod will seek the young child
to destroy him" God not only protect
ed Mary on her journey to Bethlehem.
but he also continued the divine pro-
lection over her and the young child
Mt Bethlehem to ward of the murder
Gus designs Of a brutal king. Then
there was the long journey into Egypt,
again the dangers Of travel Now,
thev certainly had to journey alone,
FOR they were fugitives from the royal
tyrant. Then there was the money
which God sent them in presents Of
the wise men to feed them and to pro-
vide for them when they were exiles
I'm the foreign land. Thus. as Mary
looks over the scenes of the past, can
she not see Gods protecting hand ev-
erywhere? Like the psalmist of old,
could she not sing. Thou preparest n
table before me in the presence of
mine enemies; thou anointest my head
with oil; my cup runneth over; surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life, and l will
dwell in the house of the Lord for
everT
But, If Mary had her divine protec-
ton through the past Christmases, has
not God protected and cared for us
in the same way during the many
Christmases that are gone? Has lie
not fed you and clothed you and pro-
tected you? Has not his right arm al
ways been about you? AS with Mary,
has not God cared for you In the most
mysterious ways7 John Knox, the
great Scottish reformer, used to tell
this wonderful story: For years Mt the
dinner Hour he sat at the head Of the
table, with his back to a certain win
dow. One night there was n strange
voice of warning, bidding him TO sit
elsewhere and not allow any one to sit
in his regular place. Hardly was the
meal we'll under way than a bullet
crashed through that window, grazed
the chair at the head of the table and
buried itself in the candlestick. Had
John Knox sat in his regular place
that night he surely would have been
n time at least, would have been halt
cd. At once the Scottish reformer
dropped on his knees and thanked God
| for protecting him and his dear ones.
AS we look over our past Christmases,
like Mary, like John Knox, We can see
| how Gods hand has been guiding and
caring for us. Thus the divine protec-
At IN
one, but in many, many ways. Can
YOU not. o man. on this Christmas day
ponder over Gods love and care as
did Mary when she looked over the
scenes preceding and succeeding that
first Christmas day, when Jesus was
born in Bethlehem of Judea?
A Way Through Trials.
Put. lastly, would turn YOUR atten-
ton to one more fact. When Mary
thought over the scenes of her past life
she certainly must have thought of
those prosecutions and bitter, heart
rendng trials which made her take
that journey to bethlehem, so that
Jesus, In the fulfilling Of prophecy,
could be born in the place where David
| lived. 1t was no doubt the bitter and
unjust attacks made upon Mary that
We're the chief caIses Of preparing the
way for Jesus to he born in Bethlehem
of Judea And without doubt It IS the
misrepresentation and trials Of life
Which nre the chief causes of driving
us to that same manger. But few OF
us were ever led to bow to and wor-
ship Jesus through the sunshine. Near
~ all of us have come to him through
shadows and storms.
The great Newman Hall, who for
many years spent his annual vacations
in mountain climbing, used to tell the
dramatic story OF Swiss chamois
hunter who was one day crossing the
great. glacier known as the Mcr dc
Glace. Suddenly his foot slipped and
he fell over the side of an awful ere
vase. He slipped down only couple
Of hundred feet. but he felt he wa.
lost, for it was an imposslbility fol
him, expert climber though he was t.
climb back Turning his eyes from The
top of that mountain of ice, he saw {
stream of water flowing down at tn,
foot OF the crevaSse. Tie knew he mus
die If he stayed where he was, so h'
began to follow that stream, hopint
that it might lead him to safety. slip
ping here and sliding there and float
ing in the stream at times, he followed
its course. Suddenly he came to a soliC
wall of ice under which the river dis
appeared. He knew he must move OIL
or die, so he plunged into the waite
and swan as hard as he could through
the darkness. After awhile, Just abb
to keep afoat, he came out on the 9th
err side. where were the flowers an,
the fragrant hayfields of a beautifu
valley. So 1t is with our troubles "
E must go through our surging torrents
We must disappear into the impenetra
r BILE darkness. We must have our time
of trial, during which We seem TO los
sight Of Gods face. But these times 0
trouble are the means of bringing II
: to the manger, as Mary's troubles wer
= the means of bringing her to Bcthle
t hem Of Judea, where Jesus was Dor
g according to prophecy. Thank God 10
n your troubles as well as for your plea.
:, ant sunshine. lie is guiding you wit
!. his pillar of cloud as well as with hi
z pillar Of fire, as he guided the chidre
e of Israel during the long pilgrimage 1
j. the wilderness.
I Presents Not All.