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Show Christmas Giving. Christinas is a symbol. Christmas giviug is symbolic, says Applcton's for December. The impor'tnuce df the symbol sym-bol is tho importance of that for which it stands. Christmas commemorates the birth of Christ, tho birth of Christianity. Christian-ity. Tt symbolizes brotherly love, helpfulness help-fulness to one another, unselfish giving. giv-ing. Of symbols wo stand in peculiar uecd. Wo arc a practical people, we aro a commercial people, wc havo a country of vast, material wealth. It is hard to be truo to our ideals. Without With-out symbols it would be impossible. ! Wc aro man and not machines. We have hearts and imaginations as well as brains and bodies. Unless wo feed our brains and bodies they starve. Unless wo feed our hearts and imaginations they starve. There are in the Bible uo truer words than "Man cannot live by broad alone." When Mr. II. G. Wellb. tho English novelist and scientist, was iu this country two years ago, he said wo were a nation of idealists. Ho saw beneath tho surface. Uo saw that which is least obvious and most fundamental our idealism. Christinas is ono of the bulwarks of this idealism. All things good can be put to bad use. Some pooplo so use Christmas. A ' certain woman said to her family shortly short-ly before Christmas, '! am afraid you will find my presents very mean this year. The fact is. 1 had to spend so much on people I didn't want to give to that I had very little left to spend on yon, Some odious women whom I never thought of sent mo presents last Christmas. Christ-mas. I know they just wanted lo inako me uncomfortable. T got ahead of them this year! 1 sent them more oxpeusive things tbau they will over dream of sending me. Besides, I have several extra ex-tra presents as a safeguard. If people I haven't thought, of send mc things. 1 'Jl just mail these right off lo them." Wus it blessed to give or to receive such presents? The presents for the unknown i people suggest the Athenian's temples I to the unknown God. The suggestion is pertinent. This woman's giving was Pagan not Christian. She was worf.0 than the man who would have no Christ -maa nonsense. He was at least honest. A young girl with soveral million dol lar.s in her own right was showing her Christinas presents to her friends. Thcv were magnificent. They represented Ihousaudo of dollars. The friend? gasped with admiration. To their amazement they found that whatever else they admired, thov must admire a funnv little old-fasliionud doily It was of cheap materials and hideous colors. The young girl appeared to care moro for it than for all her costly presents, Viv? It had been made for hor by a littio old woman who eked oul her threadbare existence by selling flagrnot. It's not tho gift, it's tho giver. It's not the act, it's the spirit back of the act. Vou cau't buy Christians any more than you can buy u home. You can buy a house, but you can 't buy a home. You can buy Christmas presents and Christmas trees, but you can't buy Christmas. |
