The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-12-24

the house of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there shall be no end" Can
not YOU see her breast heave? Can
YOU not see her cheeks pale with emo
ton and then flush: Do you think
Mary could ever look back upon the
scenes of that first Christmas day
without picturing the scene where the
angel Gabriel told her that she was to
| become the mother of the promised
| Messiah?
The Greatest Christmas of All.
| Many Christmases have come and
gone as they came and went for Mary.
But, as with the mother of Jesus
! Christ there is one Christmas which
| stands out above all other Christmases.
| That was the Christmas when for the
| first time we felt that our hearts We're
one with Jesus Christ's heart. Before
| that time we looked forward to Christ
mas as the time we received Il lot of
presents and could eat -! # candy
or toward the time when : ,uld get
a vacation from school and % skating
upon the river or go sliding down hill
upon our new sleighs. But one day
| there came to us message from
heaven as significant as that which the
angel Gabriel delivered to Mary. 1t
said: "Christmas is not simply time
| for fun. Christmas is the day we cele-
| brate the birth Of Jesus in Bethlehem
| of Judea, that We through him, may
become one with God" Oh, then, how
! different We're the Christmas saluta
tons with which we greeted our
friends. Oh, then, how different were
the hopes with which we looked for
ward to our sacred Christmases! Has
the angelic messenger appeared to you?
If he has not, will you not pray that
he may appear to you now, as he once
appeared to Mary to tell her that the
/ child who was to be born was the Son
Of God? But Mary kept all these
things and pondered them in her
| heart
There was another fact which must
have preyed much on Marys heart
and mind when she thought of the
events preceding that first Christmas
| day. That was the love and the gen
tleness and the faithfulness Of her
companion and husband, Joseph, the
carpenter, who was to her what no
other human being was in her time Of
trial and distress. Whenever she
thought of him it was always as the
same dear, gentle, kind, loving, faith
| full husband. When he went to Beth
| lehem he could not leave her behind,
| because her descent from David was
more important than his own. Then
he did not want to leave her behind
for fear she would not be treated well.
Then his gentleness on the journey
In order to make her trip easier 10
seph brought her a donkey to ride
That is the mode of transportation
which the poor in the east always use
But, Joseph l think 1 hear Mary
say. ''you cannot afford to buy that
beast for me. Why, in all probability
to buy it you sold some of your car
penter tools'' WELL" l think l hear
Joseph say, Mary, it is best. You
could never walk all that long dis
lance in your present condition. l viii
be able to pay for him by working 8
little later at night"
Mary and Joseph.
Then as Mary thinks Of all that Ions
Journey down to Bethlehem l think
she pictures Joseph as carefully lifting
her on the beast Of burden. Ther
when night comes and the camp has
to be made l think she sees him cook
ing the simple meal and carefully GOV
ering her up to sleep in the grea
warm blanket. He brings her water
to drink. Then how careful and anx
ious he is toward the end Of the trip
Yes, Mary could never think of thu
events which led up to that first Christ
mas day without picturing Joseph, thu
tender Joseph, the loving Joseph, thu
protector and friend. Yet Mary's re
membranes Of Joseph are not unlik
those we have Of our dear ones WIZ
during the merry Christmases hav'
come and gone.
Have we not had our faithful Joseph
in our past Christmases? How kim
and loving some of them have been
There was your mother, the central fig
ure of your childhood's Christmases
How she ever enjoyed those Christ
masses is beyond us. She used to worl
so hard to prepare for them that sh
was more fitted to be in bed than t
be moving around and making he
happy laugh the loudest Of the merry
making Can't you see her sitting VI
and sewing? She used to think yo1
, were asleep, but you were not. How
she ever got so much together for tina
, Christmas tree was a wonder. Tai
about geniuses Of finance! Why, sh
could make dollar go further thai
any one you ever knew. And, ther
? there was your father, and there wa
you older sister. Don't you remembe
, how she sat down and cried when 70
| found out where some Of your present
were kept? And she vowed she woul
: never give you a thing because 20
, went and looked at them. Then a
time passed on other figures move
|