The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1917-12-25
MEN, WOMEN
AND THINGS

and little child shall lead them
Christmas is the blessed time of child
hood. It's Gods way with grown ups
to turn their hearts back to the days
when they were children.
1t has been different world since
that night of long ago when the well
come music from angelic voices fell on
the listening ears of rapt shepherds
feeding their flocks by moonlight on
the Gali1ean hills, saying, GLORY to
God in the highest, and on earth
peace and goodwill towards men,"
And the angels comforting words
will be treasured as long as men are
afraid and sorrow, for after centuries
we still hear Him saying:
BE not afraid, for behold I bring
you good tidings of great joy which
shall be to all the people; for there
is born to you this day in the city of
David a Saviour, who is Christ the
Lord. And this is the sign to you: Ye
shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes and lying in a manger"
And today we pause in this busy
twentieth century to go in thought
and stand with the shepherds in the
stable under the brow of the hill by
the inn near Bethlehem. The bright
ness of the light as we push into 1t out
of the dark blinds us, too, for we have
not vet been able to bear the full
radiance of the light that streamed
from the face of the babe who is the
Light of the world"
Let US reverently call to mind as
the gaze of the shepherds. They saw
the cattle in their rough stalls, the
oil clamps burning dimly on the moor
in the far corner, and there, little
group of people bending over pre-
cious bundle of what that lay upon the
straw. Strange is it not that the worlds
salvation hung on such tender
thread as fragile life of babe, and
yet it's the Christ-Child which today
is the only hope we have to redeem a
world in which Huns, fired by selfish
ambition, mad with the lust of power,
and drunk with slaughter, are taking
US back to the days of Attila."
| 1t was on the night there in Bethle-
hem with Mary's fingers caressing the
dimpled hand of her child-man of
| promise, that motherhood was fully
crowned and given a halo that will
never fade away as long as men have
the spirit of the Master, who took lit
| tie children In his arms and blessed
them, and sanctified childhood by say
| ing that we must become as little
children if we hope to enter the king
dom of heaven. It's the only way to
get in sympathetic touch with the
great father-heart of our God.
| T care little for the Christ of meta
physics, and 1 confess that the Saviour
of the thealogians leaves me cold. I
avow that the exemplar of the philoso-
I piers leave me indifferent; but when
hear the simple story of the lowly
birth of Jesus, and sense the power OF
his all-conquering love, then, and
only then is Christmas repeated in my
soul 1t causes me to see God in every
cradle, and hear the loving Redeemer
speaking in compassion where we are
taught to tender to 1.-THE least of these
| One of the most terrible woes ever
pronounced by Him who on the Mount
! prt1a Nv yxrhi aI
to govern, and comes down to us
| through thousands of years with the
fragrance of God of love, and are
preserved to us as the beatitudes in
which the meek and the lowly and the
peace maker were exalted, to be put
aside by protested followers who set
up another set of sayings of the Mas
ter are set at naught and in their
place the dictum that might is right
is backed up with ruthless Staying OF
Belgium's little ones which makes
Herod's slaughter of the innocents
seem tame in comparison-yes, it was
the Nazarene who at the thought of the
betrayers and oppressers of childhood
said: "That it were better for him that
a milestone were hanged about his
neck, and he cast into the sea, than
that he should offend one of these lit
tie ones" It may be straining the in
depreciation but the cries of children
come up out of the sea to make the
Kaiser realize just how far he has
wandering away from the teachings o.
the Christ in which he processes to be-
lieve.
I can't drown my indignation ever
in the Christmas season against the
ing to change the current of history
and do away with the rich fruitagt
of Christian civilization by setting III
an armed government founded on tn,
lust of conquest which respects neither
God or man. or child, but boldly makes
of the great Jehovah subordinate
deity to further his own hellish am
bitions; and takes his people as pawn
to be used to trample under foot thu
rights. of man, and permits his army o
Huns to crush out the life of littl
children.
We have got to fight to save ou
Christmas from German kultur, TO
,, it's spirit which tanned the rude soul
of barbarians, has been challenged b,
the vandals of the north who would d
away with the Christ-child and set u
~ hi nix he u,