The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1923-12-13

running on the joys of Christmas in the home
joys which have no end. For, aside from its other
manifold aspects, Christmas Day is prominently
a holiday of the home and the family. And its
symbol is the Christmas tree, as its basic idea is
the Christmas cradle in Bethlehem. And the sof-
tening influence of Christmas in the home radiates
It's influence everywhere until he is a queer man
indeed who does not wish in all sincerity his neigh
Dor Il Merry Christmas"
Yes; Christmas time is a veritable contagion of
happiness overlooking into merriment. Childhood
thrills at the thought of it. Youth halls it with
delight. Maturity gives it welcome. Old age
grows young again in its joys. Our social instincts
have fair play for once. Hospitality comes into
its own. 1t is a beautiful season. Writes Shake
Speare.
Some say that ever 'gaInst that season comes.
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning sinseth all night long,
And then they say no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome-then no planets strike;
No fairy takes. no witch hath power to charm.
So hallowed and 50 gracious is the time
Another picture-that of a great turkey ranch
in California-sets our mouths to watering for
the Christmas dinner. And why not? The man
or woman or child who doesn't await it with
eagerness is not normal and should be put in snii-
tary confinement for the day. Nature gave us the
joy of satisfying a healthy appetite and 1t is not
hard to believe that the good old dame created the
turkey especially for Christmas-and Thanksgiv-
luS. IL duyOut udle utuy That NOohlhS 10 q Dlit
art in the presence of the Christmas turkey-oh,
what's the usel
Great is the good cheer of Christmas time.
But there is more to it than the Christmas tree
and the Christmas feast. And in our heart of
hearts we all know it-every one of us. That
is why all the world celebrates the day. The
spirit of the day is kindness, gentleness, forgive
ness, liberation. This spirit appeals to all of us.
1t could not appeal to US if we did not believe in
our capacity to respond to it. Century by century
the gospel of Jesus of Nazareth has forced home
these points, says Prof. Hartley Burr Alexander,
in Mature and Human Nature:
First, refuge for the weak, aims to the poor,
freedom for the slave; Their chivalry, and all that
fine devotion to the Gauss of the helpless and the
hapless which. through the spread of Christianity,
brought a ray of illumination into the barbarlsm
of the Dark Ages; and finally, under the caves of
our own years. tie recognition of the rights, politi-
cal and economic and uman. Of all men ana Women
and children. f all humanity. to participation in
the great hope of Il .nkind. These things have
been affirmed by Christianity from the day of its
founder; and it is the vigor of this affirmation
and a living fore
The World war tore away the foundations OF
onr conceits" and "stript US of our suffciencies."
Rut the world has attempted to supersede the
Gospel with various articles of reason and logic.
who shall say that man does not believe in and
want goodness and beauty and feel the dearth of
them2 Who shall say that the salvation of a cha
otic world is not 1.-THE Golden Rule'-the spirit
of Christmas extended to every day OF the year!
sovs Will Irwin in Christ or Mars:
II all the Christian sects, combining with one
another and with Judaism on this single issue
- start the Wort Of educating their sons ana
in the illusion and immortality OF war:
wA shnn~ within a year mark the changing "oo0