El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-18
DAY. with it's beauti-

full and eXhilarating celebration,
signifies the natural tendency of
humanity to good cheer, good hope and
good will. Good cheer is universal.
Some holiday of good cheer is celebrat-
ed by almost every nation of the earth.
The first indication that we find of
the Christians celebrating the birth of
Jesus was in the year 1856 in Egypt.
We get the day from Egypt and
Rome; the Christmas tree came from
Germany and Scandinavia; our Santa
Claus, as we know him came from
Holland; the custom of hanging up
stockings we received from Belgium or
France; the mistletoe, the sacred flow
er of the Druids, suggests their an
cient csutOms; and our beautiful words
of cheer, Il wish you a Merry Christi
mas" is the salutation of good old
England. So one may not wonder
when it is stated that this is a day of
universal good cheer.
Become Human for Once
Christmas is the cay when we are
cOnspicuously what We are not the
rest of the year. We permit ourselves
charitable and kind.
1 do not know anyone who does not
thaw out at Christmas time. 1t is the
time to move from Grumbling street
to Thanksgiving avenue, the time to
scOur off the rust of life, grim care,
moroseness. and anxiety by the oil OF
mirth, the time to quit hOeing up your
comforts and watering your mlSerles1
and instead thereof go at the task OF
reversing the process and hoe out your
niseries and water your comforts;
time for perfect good cheer.
A san Francisco paper tells OF
woman who was the glOomieSt woman
in California She had all diseases that
any of US have and a few more. she
had headaches from morning to night,
only n place DuL
in various parts of her body; she was
nisanthrOpic, she was always looklng
backward and not forward, down ana
not up, and she never lent hand 10
anybody. 1t was very nara TOT nsr
husband, her children and her neigh
bors. But one day the thought oc-
Cured to her that she ought to be
cheerful, and so she made the resolve
that she would learn to laugh, ana IN
order to commence, she suit herseI up
in a room and laughed a good, hearty
laugh, and that pleased her so thaI
she appointed regular time TO go
away by herself and practice laugh
ing. She developed the habit so that
after awhile she took three times
day to go into her private room and
she learned so well that she had to
laugh outside, The children found 1t
out and they began to laugh, and the
neighbOrs heard of it and they laughed.
Soon the woman began to be cured or
her diseases, and she did not have
headaches in her head or anywhere
eles, and instead of looking down, she
looked up; instead of looking back
ward, she looked forward; instead of
looking in, she looked out, and she be-
gan to minister to her husband and
children and neighbOrs until she was
sending out rays of radiance and JOY
to everyone.
The best things are available to ev-
eryone, else they are not the best. The
proper feeling, the right spirit in liv-
ing out a good Christmas day is some
thing that no one can take away from
you. If you do not feel filled with
good cheer and good will there is one
prescription that will not fail to cure
you of your trouble. 1t is a psyche
logical principle given to US by Prof.
James in these words, If you do not
feel the way you ought ia act, then
act the way you ought to feel and
soon YOU will feel the way you ought
to act" This is true.
Do the CHEEKY thing and you will
get the CHEEKY spirit.
Do the kind thing and soon the kind
feeling will take possession Of you.
This is a world of action and we are
creatures of action. The reason so
many of US are filled with an indie
scribable joy at Christmas time is be-
cause of so many heart-warming &C
tons that are taking place every
where.
Not the Gift So Much as Giver.
1t is well to remember in the mat
ter of Christmas giving that it is not
the gift that counts so much as the
giver; it is not the act so much as the
spirit back of the act
You cannot buy Christmas any more
than you can buy a home. You can
buy a house, but you cannot buy a