Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1909-12-17
WHOLE NUMBER 1886.
CHRISTMAS CHAT.
By Lue F. Vernon.

By Lue F. Vernon.
You must wake and call me early; call
me early. mother dear;
Tomorrow | would shopping go-thc
Christmas time IL near.
| want to shop while stocks are full
the struggling crowds fear;
so wake and call me early: call me
early, mother dear.
y
Toys in front of EN-, toys at back
of EN- well, by gosh, toys all around
em-pa rents.
You say faith and sight" cannot
mingle. Well, go down the street
and see the children gathered around
Santa Claus in front of the stores.
The time will soon he here, when
multitude of people will be reminded
that they, once upon time, were
children themselves, and whose hearts
will warm with sympathy as memory
harkS back to the old home of their
childhood. where the stocking in the
chimney corner told the story of
confidence in the old patron saint,
whose visit at Christmas time was
so intensely real.
1t is better to do good than to do
right at Christmas time. | mean by
this that men and women should ex-
erciSe their money and their talents
making humanity. that may not be
what we call deserving, to see the
bright and cheerful side of the world.
My idea is that good cheer at Christ
mas should be handed around with
free and generous hand, without
question as to what the recipient has
been doing all the year. In other
words. cheerfulnesS and love should
go out to all people. The man or
woman who goes about hunting for
deserving poor, or deserving"
rich, at Christmas, becomes a re-
specter of persons and departs,
therefore, from the gospel of world
wide benevolence and love. Cheer
fulness at Christmas time should be
as broad as the universe and as deep
as the ocean.
Children's faith and confidence in
Santa Claus is SO implicit that it ap-
prOacheS the sublime. and suggests
that none but ruthless hand would
disturb il, or attempt to diSpel the
happy vision. Santa Claus is q
mythical parsonage and belongs to
the realm of the supernatural, but
the faith of the child clings to him
with the same intensity that the
faith of mature life, of many folk,
cheriShes for the Son of God, So
called. the divine parsonage. whose
brief earthly life was so circum-
scribed that but a handful of people
ever knew Him, and only the eye of
faith can span the centuries which in
tervene, and yet this faith is SO uni
verSal that all ChriStendOm shares
it, and pays homage at each rccur-
ring Christmas anniversary. Back
in the days of the Roman empire, St.
Nicholas was a real parsonage, and
his memory has been kept green in
many lands by reproducing in gro
tesque form, the old patron saint.
who is best known in this land to-
day. rs Santa Claus.
And so, year after year, on Christ
mas eve, stockings are hung in the
corner, and wakeful eyes peer out in
the darkness to catch glimpse of
old ST. Nick. while ears are strained
in listening for the music of the bells
which herald his approach. then off
to sleep to dream of fairyland, and
then to awake in the early dawn of
Christmas morning to find that it
was all true!
This is childhood experience
through each succeeding generation.
Call it a delusiOn or what YOU will,
but cherish it as d choice heritage,
for it will contrive to be q bright
spot in memory long after the delu-
sion is dispelled, and back of it is the
significant thought that Santa Claus
was so real as to-day. There is moth
ing supernatural about the Christ
mas spirit. for it inhabits a body
equipped with hands and feet, con-
trolled by mind and brain, prompted
by a heart which beats in sympathy
with humanity. The spirit of giving
is the prevailing spirit.
We should encourage the little
people to believe in Santa Claus, and
as the years advance they will join
the ranks of those who wish. and
should, assist, in bringing JOY and
| gladneSS at Christmas time.