Evening star., 1922-12-24
ny THOMAS n. MARSHALL.
Former Vice President Of the United
AtAHAa

$1,000 -
7 ITO the infinite shadows that
grid our little life around
those particles of time which
we call days. have. one by one.
slipped away until once again Au-
rora. Mother Of Morn. has ushered
in another Christmas. Many theo-
rists in tho past year have sought
to treat the world A. though men
were made In the mass. but II they
are half as wise a. they have been
enthusiastic. they must by now
have caught a glimmering of the
fact that the mass. after all. Is
made up Of individuals. who. think
ing alike about many things.
think differently about others and
act largely from self-interest. Any
apostate emperor upon his death
bed may cry. 20 Gallilean, Thou
hast conquered" But II he means
that He has conquered all man
kind, the dying confession is as
foolish as the life Of the man who
made 1t was vicious.
There is scarce q soul 50 lost to
love that 1t does not strive to bow
in alteration over the cradle OF
some little one which has become
the Christ of that part OF his life
yet to be. This is childhood's day.
May 1t impress upon the world
filled with wars and woes. with
envy. hatred and uncharitablenesS
the value of the greatest thing In
life--a baby in its cradle. May 1t
help 20 a new vision of the dignity.
twentieth century life. May 1t tend
to convince that what we arc
counts far more than what We
seem to be- Let US mark no cru
sade Of hatred or bitterness against
existing conditions. nor against
the men who made these condi-
tions. Let 1t rather be a day OF
philosophic thought that every
child is a pocket edition to be
that great edition-the Babe born
in the manger.
Hard-boiled as men become In
the hot waters of adversely. have
yet to md a man SO lost to hope
and sentiment that to him do not
como certain days which enlarge
his sympathies and for their hours
at least cause him to forget the
cuts and bruises Of misfortune.
He may be scanned. SCARED and
battered by the storms OF life: he
may have been tossed hither and
thither upon the angry seas OF
pride. passion or dissipation: he
~ r@
of ever reaching harbor. yet. when
his birthday comes around the sun
breaks forth for a little while, and
in the calm he hears again the
far-on music Of q mothers lullaby,
catches again the tender glances
of a mothers eye and feels once
more the enveloping arms which
storm and shipwreck. Such days
help toward the steering OF a
right course.
Humanity at it's best grows i'm
patient over manifest wrongs for
which 1t Is not to blame, and over
other wrongs which hnd their
nesting place In the meanness OF
our own hearts rather than in the
motives of our fellow men. In all
the years of Christian culture and
progress we have not yet learned
to disassociate the sinner from his
sin. We have not learned that
anger Is q two-edged sword. Even
clergymen suffer righteous indig-
nation. We lose our taste for
things that are; when they have
palled upon US we believe almost
anything justidable to obtain
change. We forget the unnum-
bered blessings of the age and land
in which we live and would tear
down our civilization to correct
system which we think has wrong
ed us. 1t Is fortunate that once q
year the natal day OF the republic
comes around. Seeing the dags
run out, hearing the bands play
and listening to the perfervtd ora
tory of the Fourth Of July speaker
brings US back to our moorings.
We renew our faith that liberty
and Justice can be and must be
within the limits Of the law and
not through revolution. It may
not bring tho perm nent change
we think should be. but 1t changes
for tho day at least our view es to
the way in which 1t should be
brought about. Even the tears
that wet the cheeks Of the prof
iteer at the singing of the star
Spangled Banner" do good. OF
dawn's early light what so proud :
" we hailed at the twilight's last
cleaning. Then we hailed q peo-
Die whose supreme glory was in
the ragged continental. and now
we SEQ q people whose ambition 10
strangely divided between pelf and
patriotism. Yet, as we see his
tears, We say this fellows heart
IN Ali right, and 1t 10 not needful