The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1911-12-20
A GREETING.

Merry Christmas! Merry christ
mas to you all.
Merry Christmas to the youngsters
rising long before the lazy sun has
flung aside the blankets of the night
and raised his head from off his
cloudy pillows.
Merry Christmas, little bright eyes
little dancing eyes. May your hearts
desire come true. May the dolly be
as big, the work box as wonderful, the
sled as swift, the toys as beautiful and
the new clothes as warm as ever your
dreams of Santa Claus had painted
them.
Merry Christmas, boys and girls,
you who are wise, you who have
caught Old Santa Claus at his mid
night task, you who are just begin
ming to learn that it is more blessed
to give than to receive. 1t is still
your time for laughter and for joy.
For you the sweet Christmas mystery
of childhood has been changed, but
let us hope that it has been made
dearer for each gift now tells not of
the impersonal bounty of jolly saint,
but of the warm, dear, tender love,
the love of father and of mother, the
love that loves you best.
Merry Christmas to you, youths and
maidens. you who loved the golden ap-
pies, you who have reached the ap-
pointed time when heart seeks heart,
and eyes meet eyes, and lips have
other use than the forming of mere
words. Merry Christmas to you, and
may the right one stand under the
tempting mistletoe when the right one
happens by.
Merry Christmas to you, fathers and
mothers. May the merry music OF
childish laughter fill your hearts with
the hottest, purest and most Godlike
Joy it is given unto men to know. And
as you, stand together, hand in hand,
joining in the Christmas glee, may
you realize that all the sacrifice, all
the pain, all work and all the worry
have been worth while, and that to
love and to be loved is the dearest gift
the Christmas tide can bring.
Merry Christmas to you whose
hearts are visited by the ghosts of
Christmas past. For you the Christ
child bears special message, a
message OF hope and helpfulness, a
message that the way is open, that the
voices of the past shall be the voices
of the future, and that the lives whose
memories cling with such sweet sad
ness are not ended, but gone on
through the shadows, to the brightness
and the glory of perpetual day.
Merry Christmas to you, poor and
lowly. May the Christmas spirit open
up some heart to you, may some one
seize the blessed opportunity to light
en- your heavy load, to brighten your
gloomy day. May the child in the
manager teach again his lesson, the
lesson which He impressed and re-
peated when He said:
"Inasmuch as We have done it unto
the least of these, even so We have
done it unto me-"
Great is our God. He is God OF
Love, of Charity, of Purity and of
Strength. He is the Giver Of .every
good and perfect gift He delights
in every act of kindness, in every
charitable deed, in every thought that
has it's birth in love. Our God is good
He delighted in mercy and His ways
are ways of Peace.
He is not the God of sin and misery
and want. He did not create sin, He
never connived at human woe, He
never placed temptation in the path
of any man. He sent his only begot'
ten son with the message of Peace on
earth, good will to man, as witness
of his infinite tenderness and to teach
to all mankind that
God is Love-