Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-22
Sunday Morning ak

Christmas In the streets! The very
atmosphere is electric with the thought
of the coming festival. 1t colors the salu-
tations which men exchange with one an
other as they meet and pass. 1t discloses
itself in the decorations which greet the
eye everywhere. Even the visitor from
another planet, as he sauntered along our
highways and byways. might guess that
something unusual, something very beau
tiful and joyous was impending.
Christmas in the shops! The throngs
sureing up and down the aisles, and lin
gering before this or that assortment of
tempting goods tell the same story.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
When the daylight most early doth fade.
Comes q rush in the doing of business
That is known as the holiday trade.
In the doorways they push and they jostle;,
At the counters they jam and they crowd;
Their arms getting fuller OF bundles,
Their voices more strident and loud.
Yes, Christmas in the stores is an I'M
portant institution and an excellent thing,
provided customers and clerks alike prac-
tice the ordinary courtesies OF Christmas
in the home!. All, now we draw nearer
the center OF the Christmas joy. Even the
preparations are almost as good as the
reality itself. The listing of friends to be
remembered, the planning to make your
dollar or your five dollars go as far as
possible, the surreptitious Introduction Of
bundles nto out-of-the-way hooks. the
artful endeavors of the youngsters to
"s'prise' papa and mamma, the tncreas-
Ing excitement as the eventfui day draws
nearer-all these are factors with which
we would be loath to dispense and they
make Christmas In the home beautiful.
provided they are not neutralized by the
spirit of envy, emulation, ostentation and
greed.
Christmas in the church! Religion must
shed it's sanctifying glory over our festi-
val. Let there be large and reverent as
semblages in the sanctuaries and let true
gratitude and sincerity inspire the carols
that are lifted heayenward.
Christmas in the heart! The best place
of all in which to keep Christmas Is the
heart. AS Whittier says:
The heart must ring thy Christmas bells,
Thy inward affairs raise.
It's faith and hope thy eanticies,
And its obedience praise.
Christmas in the heart means simply
the presence there of a deep and unfail
ing fountain Of love to all men every
where Given that you will have happy
Christmas even IL your stocking is empty
and you sit down to meat among stran-
gers. I always love at this time Of the
year to reread the finest Christmas story
ever INTERMEDIATES Dickens account
of the transformation of Scrooge. Do you
recall the educational tour on which the
Ghost conducts him? AS they sped over
the black sea they lighted on ship where
every sailor was humming a Christmas
tune and every man on board, whether
good or bad. had kinder word for others
than on any other day of the year. And
as Scrooge and his ghostly companion
Travelled on on that Christmas night they
paused beside sick beds and found the
sufferers cheerful, by struggling men, and
they were patient, by poverty, and 1t was
rich.
All, this perpetual fountain of love!
Visionary. say you? Is it impossible for
us to have this self-effacing. all-encom-
passing, exhaustless love? Then why do
we keep Christmas at all? 1 prefer to
think better of our humanity as 1 remem-
Der Him over whose manager angels were
singing carols 1900 years ago, and who
babe US love one another as He loved us.
THE PARSON,