Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1914-12-26
SATURDAY. DECEMBER 20, 1914.
BRIGHTEN THE WINDOWS.

This year when peace on earth and
good will toward men is to be found in
greatest measure In the United States,
the observance Of all the symbols OF
the seasons is especially commenda.
BILE.
After all Christmas, as 1t Is celebrat.
ed throughout the Christian world is
made up Of symbols. The use Of holly
and mistletoe, the singing Of Christ.
mas carols, the feasting and the ex.
change Of gifts are customs handed
down through the centuries. They are
but symbols. And yet they have sur.
vived.
Their part in the celebration Of
Christmas is, after all, the part which
marks the day of from all other holi.
days as one dedicated to children and
to human ideals.
There is one other symbol, however,
worthy to rank with these other Gus
toms Of Yuletide. but which, unfortu.
nately, has not been the widespread
practice 1t deserves to be. II Is the
happy idea of placing lighted candles
in your windows on Christmas eve
Ito light the Christ Child on his way"
In Austria, Norway and Sweden this
practice Is generally followed and here
In this country in Boston on Christ
mas eve the little, Pickering lights
peer out on the dark, crooked streets
just as they do in the little villages of
Austria and Scandinavia.
Adopting this plan in Chicago would
not revolutionize the world; It would
not clothe the naked, feed the hungry
or give employment to the unemploy.
ed. But wouldn't 1t be worth while?
Placing candles in the windows of
Chicago homes wouldn't be practical
addition to Christmas, but wouldn't II
make Christmas little brighter and
more cheerful?
Wouldn't 1t be worth while to go
back, pick it up from the past and
adapt it to the celebration of Christ.
mas as We know it?
Is there a place for this quaint old
custom in Chicago today?
Is there room in our lives to permit
us to step aside from material, prac-
teal, commercial things to do this one
thing just for the sake Of the beauty
in It?
Imagine Chicago on Christmas eve,
its hundreds OF miles OF streets
stretching out like misplaced spokes
in the segment of a great wheel.
H., l., 81 4,
ice and snow, the frost cracking
among their branches.
The snow under foot crunches and
squeaks and the air is cold and biting.
The electric lights on the corners
make restless shadows on the snow.
Perhaps a church bell Is ringing,
perhaps the shout of a child comes out
Of the houses.
II Is Christmas Eve.
Isn't there something in your blood,
in the beat of your heart that tells you
this is a night apart from all the rest,
night on which the eternal command
Of the city, BE practical" has lost
It's power?
Then imagine the same maze of
streets, the same furrying snow, the
same cold and the same Christmas
eve sounds. IL Is lonely out OF doors
in spite Of the fact that 1t is the night
before Christmas. And it is cold. But
In this window, and that, and in hun
dreds of other windows down the
street little, Pickering lights are burn.
ing,
The shades are up and the warmth
from inside lust kinda reches out" to
you.
Isn't there something BIG in this
light and the scores of others that
flicker from the uncurtained windows
all about you?
Isn't there something in II that
makes you remember other Christmas
eyes-probably back in the other little
city or back there on the farm?
You, man and woman Of the world,
isn't there something In these little
lights which means cheer and comfort
and glow inside?
You, lonely men and women OF the
streets. isn't there something here