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Show CHRISTMAS. I. This day on which the hope was born to men, That when this life we struggle through on earth 1 Is ended in the final sleep; that then I There waits for us a new and holier birth; This sacred day, why should not joy-bells ring, Why should not organs peal and incense rise? Why should not happy children carols sing, And eyes look love to love-enchanted eyes? J This day of days, the skies seem .bending low, The earth, exalted, hearer seems to heaven. The murm'ring brooks, the gentle winds that blow, Seem all attuned to music's joyous rhythm, To swell the anthem great to earth and sky, . "Good will to men; Glory to God on high." The ancients were wont to celebrate a day in i the late autumn or early winter in honor and thankfulness for the harvest that had been vouchsafed them. The early Christians merged this into the day which was the reputed date of the birth of the Messiah, and so it has come down to us. It is a festival day, a day of rejoicing, bell be-ll cause of gratitude for garnered harvests, because II of the sublime hope which came to the world with the coming of the Christ. V It is celebrated by all the millions of Chris tians. Its coming is rung in by joy-bells and carols; the day in the great cathedrals is honored by all the pomp of organ and choir, burning incense, robed priests and shaded lights with voices of praise and prayer. In Christian . homes it is the day for reunions, for presents, for feasting and song. Among neighbors it is a day for welcomes and kindly greetings. It is a day to forget animosities, to link friendships more closely, close-ly, for joyous greetings, for forgetting cares. Without vhe hope engendered by it, the festival fes-tival would still be good for men to heed, for it cames as a harbinger of peace and good will; it shadows forth the day when the world's hot passions shall be lulled to rest uiider the brooding of the white wings of peace, when nations shall have ceased to learn war any more. To the unlearned the day is filled with a solemn sol-emn joy, for when it comes they lift their timid eyeB, borne up by the hope of the day, to dream of a world that awaits them, where there will be no more pain or care, where the music that will fill their ears will be music from where music first had birth, and from which will be eliminated every discord, every harsh note. The more learned a person is the more the hope born of this anniversary will be magnified. An angel was the herald; the heavenly host joined to chant in deep diapason the music that filled the universe, the golden axles of the stars as they rolled through the ether were set to music, and nature, to her remotest shores, felt the thrill that comes when the Infinite bends in blessing to his children. The thought exalts man as no other thought ever did, for the heavenly herald is waiting somewhere, some-where, so is the heavenly host and the exultant soul looks forward to when, with sublimated senses, he, too, may hear the singing and the melody mel-ody which is awakened as planets and suns in harmonious har-monious accord roll on in their stately processions. The feeling comes that it is true, that, after all, poor man whose tenure here is so insecure, is still immortal and what, after all, his station is but a little lit-tle lower than the angels; that after all this life is but one stage in an endless progression that takes on more light, more music, more splendor, and more capacity for enjoyment the farther it advances ad-vances toward that real source where all is light and music and splendor. So joy should rule today, so every child should be made happy. So with more love and trust families should gather in rejoicing today; so words of welcome and greetings of peace should pass between friends and neighbors, the yule log should blaze, the mistletoe should hang in every home, there should be feasting and song and a wealth of flowers in every home. But there should be no rudeness, no boisterous shouting, for the day symbols such a coming as an inspired soul gave expression to. The first coming: "But when these saw Our Lord bearing the lamb, the guards stood back, The market people drew their waines aside, In the bazar buyers and sellers stayed The war of tongues to gaze on that mild face; The smith with lifted hammer in his hand, Forgot to strike; the weaver left his web, The scribe his scroll, the money changer lost His count of cowries; from the unwatched rice Shiva's white bull fed free; the wasted milk Ran o'er the lota while the milkers watched The passage of our Lord moving so meek, With yet so beautiful a majesty. But most the women gathering in the doors Asked: "Who is this that brings the sacrifice So graceful and so peace-giving as he goes? What is his caste? Whence has he eyes so sweet?" The possible second coming: "They seemed the regents of the earth who dwell On Mount Sumeru, lighting from the sky With retinue of countless heavenly ones. Swift swept into our city, whence I saw The golden flag of India on the gate Flutter and fall; and lo! there rose instead A glorious banner, all the folds whereof Rippled with flashing fire of rubies sown, Thick on the silver threads, the rays where from Set forth new words and mighty sentences T "sose message made all living creatures glad." There should be songs and feasting and glad ness today, Only love words should be spoken, friends should' be remembered, the poor should be remembered; and the day should be so greeted and passed that in memory it will be a white day as long as life lasts. |