Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-22
BUT ONCE A YEAR,"

W there must be fire. And where floods
of color are spilled and bells are pcrsistontly
rung and echoing legends fill the air to
attest that there II world Of faery and
that the wise are always and inevitably
gentle; where continuing song In praise
OF Kindness seems to be justified and cx-
planned by corroborativc human experience
longer than any individual life there must
be something more to existence than Is
apparent on familiar surfaces.
SO the average man. touched by the sound
and color of approaching Christmas. Is apt
to reason almost against his will. lie will
be aware again Of many things ordinarily
forgotten but too nobly believed in to be
otherwise than true Fairies? Well. II Is
astonishing to know how many wise men
have believed in them. And many books
have been written In their praise and filled
with most convincing pictures in full color.
The star and It's promises? Who knows? /?
What is 1t that happens to the world at a
time when everybody IN in a hurry only to
be kind?
There has been a conspiracy Of opinion
to establish the notion that Christmas IL u
time exclusively for little children. II has
been inspired by the diffidcncc and sensitive
ness Of people who. growing away from
youth. have not the courage to admit their
loneliness or to let even themselves know
how eagerly they turn bnck to the land Of
realities from which the years have exiled
them. Children. If the truth were known.
are only the guides and spectators at that
annual adventure. Wondcrmcnt makes all
their days beautiful The elder world II
ashamed to wonder about anything until 1t
throws OF the mask about the middle of
December and is led By the finger backward
over road cluttercd with treasures which
most people abandon in the rush for nowhere
in particular and presented finally in regions
of murmuring bells and laughter and a
wrlter of things that seem unimpOrtant until
you remember that they are made Of and
for pure happiness of heart.
Then for time we live again. A me-
chanical railway train in miniature. with
landscape. signals. ilagman and fiag COM
plctc." brcczing untroublcd over bridges and
through tunnels, will refresh and exalt the
soul of almost any tired business man who,
in eleven and n half months of the year,
must sternly conceal real and passionate
interest in such things. The dignity Of ma
turity must be preserved. though whatever
1t is for no one knows. One who Is not
young may merge his identity with the
identity of a crowd and snatch occasional
moments of ecstasy at the windows of toy
shops. Further he may not go. He may
play with the fiscal policies Of railroads or
with their stocks or their programs of ex-
tension. but the delights Of actuality are not
for him until. with lifting sense of blessed
rrpricvc. he returns at this time of the year.
trooping in the vast struggling army of per-
pctual refugees. to live in the world of
children. They, being the wise ones of the
earth. care only for things that make you
glad
The very colors of Christmas as they are
revealed in the books, in the uniforms of
toy armies and through the symbols of the
season are the reverse of subtle. They arc
as bright and as honest az life itself can be
at bottom. They are az stimulating to weary
eyes as trip to u far country. The pig
seized and carried away by the Pipers Son
lives in an environment Of red and yellow
and blue-colors as unmstakable and cheer
ful as the simple truth itself. The skies
in the Christmas story books are always
filed with stars. The snow Ia always I'm
maculatc ard untrOdden. Soldiers and cru
sadcrs 90 always upon noble errands. and
the very cows and horses and the indispensa.
Bile reindeer seem in the literature Of the
greatest of days to have the friendliest OF
understandings with the folk about them.
You may search all through and among the
books and the things that make the Christ
mas of children without finding anything
suggestive of ugliness or cruelty or cynicism
or lack Of fine faith. These. then. must be
things that the normal mind rejects until 1t
is forced to accept them. Since they are 30
prevalent in the world. it is no wonder that
tired business men and tired business women
are glad once year to be led in places where
they are taboo
That may be what children arc for. At
Christmas they seem like the guardians Of
all the enduring realities, dwcllers In realms
from which beauty and belief have not yet
been cast out. They do not know this. Of
course. They will not know it until after
they have grown up. Then they too, will
return with marvclng eyes for occasional
glimpScs into the lost country.