Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1915-12-24

mas message:
"a What does Christmas now in
dicate to the ordinary mind? A
day of festivity, rejoicing. fire
crackers, and presents for the
children, and, added to that, gen
orally, a totally useless exchange
of presents upon the part of the
) older people.
Isn't this about all? Do many
of us think Of it as sacred com.
memoration of the birth of the
Prince Of Peace. Lover of the
Poor and Helpless and the Meek,
and the Kedeeme7 of the World
from theirs of Pride and Hate
ard Greed?
The sweetest things left to us
and about all that is left to us in
the contemplation Of Christmas
uthat is sweet, is that it is a chill
dren's holiday. whereupon the
Child Christ, justa born, wei
comes all the other little chill.
dren. The Germans and the
I Dutch corrupted the tradition by
substituting Santa Claus and
Kris Kringle for the Child Christ.
Maybe the Italians are happier in
their phraseology in calling it the
Festival of the Holy Babe-the
Santa Bambino.
But outside of all the tradi-
tions and the legends, what does
this particular Christmas in the
year of our Lords grace. 1915
mean to me and to you? Does il
mean that the world is as highly
civilized and christianized ais we
thought it was three ChristIpases
ago? Is there any justification
forour egotism, national and in
dividual, and international, about
our enlightenment" Do the
scenes in Belgium and Poland,
and Serbia, and Northwestern
France give us any very good
reason to think that?
But the question recurs as to
how best this sparticular Christ
rlas can be celebrated Of
courst, nKe ali iisrlaas
days and all OF. ,ssaijS., 1t ought
to be celebrated by saying "Thy
will be done and Thy Kingdom
come on earth as IN Heaven. !"
But when we say this year. ! do
not feel as if Gods Kingdom
could come and Gods will could
be done on earth any more as
suredly than, or quite nearly as
we'll as it could have been even a
hundred years ago. If we fol-
low it by saying "Hallowed be
Thy name," does it strike me
and you that the noise that ac-
companies the acclamation is the
noise of sweet angels trumphets
or that of death-dealing cannon,
and groans of agonized victims
of poison gas, and cries of little
children sinking to watery graves
from the decks of unarmed and
unwarned merchant ships?
Does it not look to all of us as
if we had no particular occasion
this year to celebrate the birth
Of the Infant Christ as Prince
of Peace" and "Apostle of Broth
er)y Love-" and that we have
rather abundant reason instead
for making the anniversary a un-
iversal repentance day repent
ance for bloodshed and hatred?
] do not mean by that that we
are to act like little, passive, nom
resident children, off in a closet
forgetting to be prepared for
what all the world around us is
doings I mean very much to the
contrary; as long as civilized man
If we in America are civilized
land I do not know whether we
are or not, because we have not
been tested as the people of Eu-
rope have been tested and is
surrounded by people who OBJ
viously are not-is it part of
Gods counsel to give way to
them, or on the contrary, to be
ready to overcome them, in case
we should be the next sought
sacrifice to be inundated on the
altar while invocating "a peace
in the Sun" for somebody "gone
a world-powering?" It strikes
me it is part Of His counsel to
overcome them; if necessary, to
put ourselves in a position where,
at any rate, if the necessity
should arise we would have a
reasonable hope of preventing
anybody from overcoming us.
You tell me that this is a sad
conclusion to arrive at with Chris
tianity nearly two thousand years
old, and | agree; but it must be
remembered that amongst the
other things that Christ said. was
this: II come not to bring peace
jntq, the world bqt a sword" sword;