Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1919-12-25
Christmas the
Glad Day for
An the World

~ VERY country and every people
have their own special holi
~ days, both national and reli
glous, but Christmas is day
for all countries and all people. II Is
the worlds holiday.
1t is a day OF gladness, as II should
be, for II commentaries the birth OF
him who brought to the world the
greatest gladness II has ever known OF
will ever know, though 1t were TO last
for countless aeons TO come.
So universal Is the application OF
the celebration OF Christmas that all
men are included in II, whether they
be OF high or lowly station, rich or
poor In the goods OF the world.
II is a time for kindly deeds, for
charity, for gifts and all that goes to
make life gentler and sweeter. The
hardest heart can scarcely escape Its
softening influence, the most sordid
mlser must struggle TO resist It's
promptlngs 10 generosity.
At first the day was day observed
by professed Christians only; now II
is observed by both those who profess
themselves Christians and those who
make no such professions. Its warmth
envelopes all.
This being true-and no one will dis
pute 1.-THE meaning Of Christmas
grows ever clearer to us. Its meaning
is beyond all that we have already said
of II. Christmas means that, ultimate
lv. the whole world will become one
vast brotherhood.
And 1t is entirely logical that this
should be the real meaning of Christ
mas, because that was the reason Christ
came upon the earth whose birth Is
celebrated by Christmas. 1t was tc
make all men brothers that he lived
and taught and toiled; it was to ac'
complish this that he gave himself up
voluntarily to cruel death on the
cross.
1t is a wonderful thing that he was
born in a stable that he was son of
carpenter, that he never had a dollar
to his name, that he had no home
after he left Nazareth, that he was
wanderer on the face of the earth with
no place whereon to lay his head, and
that now, 1000 years after his death.
his power is over the world as the
power of the Roman empire never
was.
1t is a marvellous thing about Christ
that as the years and centuries In
crease since his death, the more real
he becomes in the thoughts Of men
and the better he is understood.
There have been attempts to prove
that he was myth. But there never
was an attempt at anything that failed
so dismally. There have been at
tempts to dispute the miracles he per
formed, but these attempts have also
failed.
There is no question now in the
mind Of any historian worthy of the
name that Christ performed all the
miracles that are related of him in the
Gospels. He undoubtedly healed the
sick-the leprous, the palsied and the
others. He turned the water into wine I;
he fed the multitude on few loaves
and fishes. He raised the dead.
Men may differ, as indeed they do,
as to whether or not Christ was the
divine son of God, but even those who
in the face of every proof reject this
claim still regard him as the purest,
the noblest and the greatest man that
ever walked this earth. Every man
does not worship him as God, but no
man defames him. He is the vision
and the hope of all men.
When. in mockery, they crowned
him king with the cruel thorns, little
they thought that he would rule a
world at last-a world In which all
races vie with one another to render
him their homage.
Now comes again in the swing OF
the years another Christmas day. May
1t be a glad and merry one for all
our readers.