Show CHRISTMAS p Nobody knows when or whore Jesus waj born But wo have been accustomed to associate tho 2oih of December with tho manner In the stable at Bethlehem where legend says the nowborn boy was laid We need not fear that Jesim will be reverenced any the Utts by bollovlng what tho New Testament teaches that ho waJ tho Hon of Joseph and Mary for that does not make him any the less tho son of God Whoever thinks that God In person per-son lived tho human life In the villages of Gullloc linn 1a faith worthy ot the Lyconlun peasants who took Corimbiui for Jupiter and Paul for Mercury Centuries before tho birth of Jesus Buddn waa an Id to lutv hud an origin partly human and partly divino Angola sang to announce his advent an aged hermit blessed him In bis mothers inns n monarch was advised to destroy him because It WUM I predicted that he would become a universal ruler I la oald th the t-he waa lost and was found in the I tom plc whoro his wisdom astonished the doctors doc-tors ills 1 public career began whrn he was about 20 years old and ono of the moat solemn events of his life was his temptation In solitude by the evil ono Everywhere in his life wo discover things that many think peculiar to Jesus to deny thorn to Budda Is to deny them of Jesus Let us gay Jesus was 3 m U In tho spirit and thought that hal lift us up t his level What docs that moan to us I means that Instead of God being Incarnated In-carnated In only ole man In all tho ages ho is incarnated In all mon This means not tho degrading of lie divinity of Jesus down to humanity but lifting of the humanity hu-manity of man up to tho level of tho divinity di-vinity of Jesus now it makes us thrill at the thought of what our humanity la capable of I ho could be so great and good then all may try and climb up to his height The regions of possibility so far from being exhausted have only begun be-gun to open their treasures Tho belief that humanity has already como to flow or discourages the laborers In th human hu-man garden Humanity Is still amaklng Itn perfection Is prophecy not history Tho realities of today surpass the Ideals of yesterday The Jesus of tradition become be-come human will surpass his old triumphs As for tho demands of the heart which must have persons to cling to there arc plenty living All the line personalities aro not dead Arc there none In our homes to lovo with cnlhuslaB tic ardor Arc there no ft It Is a blessing bless-ing to sit at no heads It Is a privilege to anoint no hands It is a dignity to kiss Are there no causes worth cspouqlng Lot us not only believe In Ideals but In the Ideals l realized The cleverest revelations revela-tions of what Is I divine core through human hu-man love And Christmas draws u In spite of owBQlveg nearer to qur fellows Tho good feeling Is contagious We Shall all do something to make this A Merry Christmas for some of the children of our common Father The air will bo resonant re-sonant with echoes of tho angels song Kindness and amiability will reign supreme su-preme and all antagonistic emotions will hide themselves Let Christmas be a day of mirth and amity that sympathies may expand hearts soften and the rang of kind remembrances grow broaden Have Jovial revelies In your homes to betray the children into hearty laughter and that fairyland may bring Its elfin phantasies Into tho rugged prose of dally lift Whatever opens the lung I of lire and flings c Hush of pure romance overlie over-lie hard facts of common toll has Its place among the good gifts of God and should b heartily enjoyed let who will distill his grumbling anathemas tIt t-It Dispel every unlovely fetish which the scowling bigot would Invoke and let tho dance go merrily and the carol wako blithely In honor of lie birth of tho most Illustrious personage In the worlds history his-tory Christmas reminds us that Jesus declared de-clared tho sacredness oC feelings which are reckoned low and worldly Ho stamped his approval on human Joys Tho marriage at Cana was an Indulgence In tho festivities of life as plainly aa words can describe here was a hnnrm < t of human enjoyment Lone asceticism finds no warrant In Jesus At Christmas time abovo all other influences In-fluences Jesus Is among lid poor ministering minis-tering to their wants and with tho sick healing their diseases and with tho sorrowful sor-rowful bearing their hardships because It is tho overthrow of self and the enthronement enthrone-ment t f mankind Let us be grateful that such c happy season crosses the closing year and cheers the winters barrenness with Its perennial bloom It Is not Ideas that traisformn the world but Ideas l with an inspiration In bent crowding them from dream to life Jcsun Is an everpresent spirit cheering the soul today Just as ho blessed men 1002voars ago Inspired by his spirit let us sparo n garment rot tho naked coal for the uhlv crlng bread for the hungry c smile for tho unhappy r you help Iho despoiled and the outcast If you are to them In your small way what Jesus Is to you there will be Joy in heaven and in your heart to and Jesus will say Inasmuch as ye did It unto one oC the least of these my brethren yo did It unto me Tho best blessing that can fall on your Christmas dlnnor will 0 that Invoked by tho poor sad lost and lonely or those whohave tried to make ono day in the CC3 of the year 0 festival of gladness not only for themselves but for their unfortunate unfor-tunate neighbors That you may all havo A merry Christmas Is the wish of PHILIP S THACEIER Pastor of the Unitarian Society |