The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1918-12-26

The Christmas season is the time
all The year when giving is the
~der OF the day. TIE happy custom
gift-making has increased from
ear to year until il has become d
volume that no man can measure
Weeks before the glad day busiue5
begins to respond to the spirit Of tEe
worlds anticipation and on every
continent, merchants, railway and
steamship companies, banks. post
flee and express companies increase
their working forces and lengthen
hours of labor that they may help
the world to express its JOY in gifts,
Parliaments, legislatures, schools
and universities, and courts of law
prepare for q few days vacation that
those engaged in these great enter
prises may join the jubilant throug.
Yes, and the world takes on new
beauty everywhere. Decorations
suddenly become universal rendering
shop windows attractive, homes and
churches brighter, and even public
buildings and streets greet the eye
With evergreen.
All this expenditure of labor and
money the World seems perfectly
willing to bear, and indeed rej0ices
in the annually recurring burden.
A tidal wave of joyous emotion ga(is
lOund the world at each returning
Christmas season, people become
( possessed with a consuming desire
to make those around them happier
so that the total hours OF labor ex-
pended for this purpose, or the
millions Of money invested surpasses
our powers of imagination.
Suppose one of the old Greek
philosophers who lived before the
birth of Christ could revisit this
earth and become thoughtful
witness of this annual pouring out
| of treasure at Christmas time,
might he not naturally ask What
is the cause which inspires this
universal impulse of generosity?''
And we can we'll believe that he
would listen enraptured to the story
OF Bethlehem's Babe, and having
taken the full meaning of The blessed
! story, could he better express his
inward delight than in the words OF
the text, Thanks be to God for his
unspeakable gift" AS a matter Of
fact these words were first uttered
by Greek scholar-one whose
thought has entered isto the current
of human history and contributed
| largely to the worlds best life.
The Gift of the Child.
God so loved the world thai NJ
gave his only-heg0tten son, and hi
giving has inspired our giving. Eht
most beautiful Incident .hat | a&Y,
seen recorded during the wor.d-Na
is that Of little babe The iish
Of the sun rising over b1.tlc aaA
in northern France revealed th
hostile trenches, not far apart full.
| manned for conflict, Midway be
tween the lines, in no mans land
stood a shattered cottage, The morn
ing stiffness was broken by the roa
of guns. Here and there men weE
falling wounded or gasping in deaCh
when suddenly babe was discoyoge'
near the cottage creeping among iii
grass and wild flowers. AS thougI
a command had been heard from TIL
chrome of God, the firing ceased. .
soldier sprang from the trenches, raI
forward and tenderly picked up til
cooling child. Not a shot was fire.
as, among cheers from both sides
the hero bore the innocent babe t.
safety. Something noble in thos
warrior hearts responded to tn
presence of that bahe-just as nearl
two thousand years ago the world il
the midst of its sin and sorrow wa
: .Nakened to new hope when tn
divine babe was laid in the mango
: at Bethlehem.
An Era of Giving.