The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1912-12-25

[By Former Judge James Gay
Gordon, of the Philadelphia Bar.
The supreme holiday of Christ
ianity has become the holiday of
all creeds and all races. Even un-
belief yields to practice what it de-
MES to dogma. over all the earth
the Spirit of Christmas fills the
hearts of more people than are ever
at any time animated by any other
single emotion. Christmas is no
longer the property Of the Church
alone; it has been Appropriated as
the festival of humanity. This UNI
iversality OF celebration of a day
originally set apart by those only
holding particular religious be-
lief, is a unique and profound social
phenomenon. It's reason is not diff
ficult to find.
Christmas is the day assigned by
tradition to the birth of a poor
child, who afterward became the
founder of a religious system. adj
herence to which for centuries sue
ceeding was a reproach in the
courts of power and the palaces of
the rich. His humble birth as mar
rated by the Authors of the Christ
ian Scriptures was attended by in
cidents unusual and miraculous. A
planet moving through the sky,
stayed its course and paused over
the spot where the Infant lay. while
men of Jewish faith, guided by the
celestial courier, brought gifts to
the feet of the lowly babe. Mean
while, the shepherds of the Judean
hills heard a host of angels pro-
claim the new birth and announce
from the heavens the evangel of
peace and good will among men.
No other religion thus ushered
into being was ever presented to a
weary and oppressed world-a
world in which beneath the Roman
eagles the tramp of the legions of
Caesar was heard from the rising
to the setting of the sun.
Peace and good will-good will
and peace" The blood-stained
earth smiled with JOY at the proph-
ecy, and the singing of the slave
drowned the clank OF his chains.
The wise and favored ones brought
gifts to the helpless, unfriendly and
despised babe. Power stopped to
weakness; wealth laid of it's treas
ure at the door of poverty.
This is the historic setting of the
first Christmas morning which gives
to each recurring anniversary a
more widespread recognition. Not
stopping to think of it's religious
significance, millions appropriate
the essential gospel Of Christianity
proclaimed at the nativity, and mil
lions who reject the theological
status of the Christ taught by the
Churches celebrate the spirit of the
day that saw His birth. For one
day at least the civilized world is
a brotherhood; for one day at least
a universal commune sentiment is
established in which the disparity
of conditions among men is obliter-
ated in a common emotion of good
will. This is the Christmas spirit
that captivates all nations and
creeds and wraps the world in
mantle of light.
And herein is hope for the fu-
ture. The philosophy of optimism
can point to Christmas as the most
signal proof of the nobler aspira-
tions and the higher possibilities of
humanity. A child's lowly birth
and a gospel OF four words-"Peace
and good will"-transform for one
day a world of selfshness into a
world of altruism. In the practice
of the day each looks for the nonce
away from his own interests out
ward toward his brothers.
1t matters not how faultily or