The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-12-25
A Thought For
Christmas Day.


The heart taat does not glow and
warm the soul at Yuletide il in truth
thing that's dead. For the life. the
10y, the enthusiasm, that pulses
through the air like Hertzian waves
o. the wireless telegraph compel a
responsive thrill wheresoevsr they
siay strike. and force light and life
from the dullest bit OF human clay.
Even the parsimonious, cruel and
uisanthropic old Scrooge fcii'a victim
% Tiny Tim when the bells o. Christ
mas. sounded in his ear and awakened
he slunbering sympathy within his
pirit.
II is a season of irresistible joy. Ii
uemorializes the birth of new era
upon the earth whose elimination
viii be the reign of peace, the tri-
umph of love.
More than nineteen centuries ago.
when the Magi beheld the star in the
East which heralded the birth of the
Redeemcr, they FASTENED TO the mang-
.er in Bethslehem to lay their offerings
before the. infant Jesus. These wise
men, unlike the world at large, recog.
nized the glory of Christ though He
lay in swaddling clothes within a
stable. They cared not for splen-
dor, for authority, for the exhibition
of power. They nunbled themselves
at the straw strewn threshold and
lifted eyes of alteration to behold the
of
: divinity was the nimbus that encircled
His sacred head, but which, as the
worshipers gazed VITA wondering
eyes, expanded into a far reaching
effulgence that poured into their souls
and awakened the ecstatic realization
OF their Immortality.
And as, to the wise men, 20 comes
the Christ to every human heart.
There is no day so bright that the
star In the east is invisible. II still
hangs over the manger. radiant
beacon in; the blacklist night. But
when we follow its guide and reach
the goal we still md the manager and
the infant Jesus No gorgeous pal
ace -lolds the Lord of the universe
When we enter His Kingdom it is
Through the door of humility and il
lumined by the soft light of love. But
If we be wise we will know that this
light is the only satisfying thing in
ali the boundless realms Of creation;
that powers and principahties and all
the material grandeur OF the uni
verse are but as the shifting sands
upon the seashore; that the ons only
reality, eternal and sublime, is love
that ovsrcometh all things
Those who have even partially re-
allied this truth viii understand the
JOY OF Christmas day. and will delight
Ia its annual celebration. The glad
cries OF children, when with eager
eyes they gaze upon the gifts of tae
venerable Santa Claus; the merry
greetings of family and friends at
home or on the streets; the inter
change of gifts accompanied by
wordsN of affection; the well spread
table surrounded by those who are
especially dear TO us or the feast fur.
nished those whom poverty has
blighted with her cold hand-all the
holy, happy things. which transpire
on this holiday to harmonizs the CON
flieting elements of the world and
draw humanity in all its phases closer
together into one brotherhood. will
become but evidences of the contin
nous birth of love within the human
heart and will contain prophecy OF
the time when all the. year viii be q
Christmas, and the Star of Bethlehem
20 longer needed as guide. will have
vanished in the all pervading glory
If the light divine.