Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-25
The Christmas Spirit.
(ZiOn's AdVocate.D

History presents few more remarka-
bic pictures than that of the Wise Men
from the East bOwing in reverence be-
fore the Babe in the manger at Bethle-
hem. That we see now, in the light
that followed, who that Babe was and
how fitting it was that everybody
should acknowledge his supremacy.
does not lessen the marvel of it. Who.
were they? Kings, perhaps; wise men,
strangers from the far East-that
much, at least. Who vas he? SO far
as appearances went, only the child OF
Il peasant woman, whose friendlessness
and poverty in a strange town could
prvidc fir him no better birthplace
than a stable of an inn. Yet no sooner
are they-kings, wise men, strangers
in his presence than with one accord
as before their superior, they humbly
bow themselves before him, holding
back their gift of treasures until they
have offered their gift of personal re-
Spect and reverence. And when they
were come into the house, they saw the
young child with Mary his mother, and
fell down and worshipped him; and
when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts, gold, and
1ranklncenSe, ana myrrn.
We must not read into that word
'worshipped' more than belongs to it
here. Far less than it's present and
usual meaning is to be understood by
it, 1t was not an act OF religion: there
was no intention on the part of these
men to ascribe divine honors to the
Child. or to bring him the alteration
that belongs to a god. Probably they
would have been hard put to it to ex-
plain the feelings which prompted the
bowling of the head and the bending Of
the knee. But whatever their motive,
however they understood or failed %
understand their act this much is true.
that the first thing in the story Of
their contact with the Christ was the
emphasis of personal relation. Before
they gave him anything they had. they
yielded unto him what they were. 1t
was their bowling before him in
personal acknowledgment and rever-
ence that made the gifts of gold and
frankincense and myrrh significant and
acceptable Would there have been
value or worth in offerings in which the
heart had no part?
1t seems hard for us always to un-
derstand and remember that the great
and important thing is not deed, but
relation and that the value of deed is
in its expression of relation. The gift
without the giver. is bare, Con-
versely. the gift which carries with II
the love and thought and heart or the
giver. is lowered with a marvellous
beauty and has a value that IS not COM
puted by monetary standards. Ii one
can find in this an excuse for lessenlhS
his offering of gold and franklncenSe
and myrrh. it will simply prove that nc
has not caught the meaning OF WHAT
is after all truiSm. But one can ana
should find in it a vast comfort that
even the necessary poverty OF MS CIV
ing cannot prevent or diminish It's ac-
ceptableness to Him who looks Deyond
the Golfer with its contents to see the
bowed head and the yielded heart. Inc
significant gift to the Christ-chlld IS
the gift of ones self
And only in slightly lesser sense
is the same thing true when appled
to our relations to our fellow men,
There is present and increasing danger
that the Christmas season shall pc
come the great trading market-ume ol
the year: a time of paying debts, OF
discharging obligations. of evening
up." Many are yearly sad and sorry at
heart that they are so little able 10
trade to advantage in this market; that
their ability to give is so slight; that
their Christmas gifts must be so fe"
and inconspicuous. But it is not what
we give to our neighbor. not what ne
gives to us, but what we are to each
other that is of largest moment ana
Significance The personal equatlon
bulks larger than financial values Ihe
gift that goes out because the heart is
back of it and propels it. has a worth
that can never be found in that which
is the outcome and expression OF
sense of debt or obligation. Christmas
is to he reckoned in terms of the heart,
not in terms of the purse.