The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1916-12-15
CHRISTMAS 1916 REFLECTIONS.

Once again the mind runs back to Bethlehem and the
Judean hills where a heavenly guest first set foot on this globe.
He came in the innocence and the purity of childhood. If as
has been said of the child, 1T is happy because it knows no
evil then it would seem that in a much greater degree the
child Jesus must have been happy because he came direct from
Heaven. where there can be no evil. Bishop Erie said of child-
hood, 1T kisses and loves all" because there is nothing in its
little heart against any creature and that. "the older he grows
he S a stair lower from God; he is the Christians example and
the old mans relapse Keeping this child Jesus idea in mind,
it is but NATURAL that the noblest and most generous impulses
OF the human heart should manifest themselves in the period
that links the present with a beginning that was the browning
work OF love and of that self-sacrifce which the finite mind has
never yet been able to fathom or understand. 1t was the
Christ that placed a ladder between earth and heaven upon
which angels are constantly descending and ascending. This
Christ appeals to the world today in the purity and simplicity
OF his childhood, in the beauty of his humility, in the strength
of his mature manhood when he manifested that vision that
comprehended in its sweep the world and all that was to come
after him. in the breadth of his wisdom and finally in the sac
rifce which meant suffering and death and the grave and then
the resurrection.
1t staggers the mind to attempt even to measure the light
that has been thrown upon the canvas of the world by the
coming of the Savior. The life of Jesus broke the shackles of
the enslaved, it has lifted up the cast down, it has given hope to
the gloomy and the Respondent, it has supplanted the frown
with the smile, it has changed anger into love and friendship,
1t mas made friends OF old-time enemies, it has opened the peck
eS o n nlscr to the poor and the distressed, it has bound up
the bleeding heart and given comfort to the aged and the worn
1t has brought heavens sunshine to every human soul that
would open ITS door for its entrance, it has made so luminous
the pathway from earth to heaven that only those who harden
their hearts and close their eyes fail to discern it.
10 many of us the echoes of many Christmases past come
ringing down the years. How sweet to listen to these echoes
and what memories do they awaken! Visions come before us
of Papa's plans and purchases and of Mama's and perchance
labors preceding the Christmas. We go back in
our fancy to Christmas morning and see ourselves as w rush
fro mour beds where we had been so snugly tucked away bv
Mother the night before to the fireplace to learn what Santa
Claus mad LETT Tor us. AS these and kindred memories crowd
upon the mind we oftentimes find our eyes bednnmed with the
tear for the loved ones who, with 10 much toll and
sacrifice, made these sacred hours possible. These dear par
ents got more real JOY out of working and planning for rs than
we dd out of enjoying the results of their blans and labors
is - blessed to do than to be done for When the doing is