Show F S SPIRIT P IR CT r OF I 1 CHRISTMAS RIS by rev man qa pressley pros Press lej wilson jj P 1024 western newspaper Ui ubron olon T be b merry and w wl ithal thol and feast thy poor neigh bore bora the great with the small so wrote the poet many years ago but the suggestion Is just us as pertinent today as it was ft as then if anything uni tiling we vve need to be ba reminded of our duty to our fellow man morl today than our fathers authers did more today indeed than ever eer before this la Is true because the need for brot brotherhood lie Is yen even more inore patent alinn nt at any other period of the history of the world we live in an age when we think ISO bodely ely of ourselves and our immediate fa families imd and wu we should have brought to our attention the he fact that we ue owe or a debt to our neighbor and that wat unit debt must be paid the story Is told of a rich nian man who prayed oh loidl bless me and my wife my son eon john and his wife Us four fou and no morel we blush for shame shaine that there could be found one who Is so BO narrow yet eti I 1 am assured viat that such people exist today there tire aru those hoso who when they have satisfied the needs of their own on assume a sel self f sa fled air and say sa that they have doue done their whole duty approach such a person and remind him of the need ot of a friend or a neighbor anti and lie will ask the alie taine alme worn vorn question am I 1 my brothers keeper I 1 enough to do to look after my own family the teachings of jesus christ answer the first question in ili the affirmative and the latter in the negative with even more emphasis than god answered cain when lie he originated the selfish inquiry jesus taught that the decalogue Is summed up lip in the greater commandment thou love they neighbor as thyself and ills his definition of neighbor Is any one who needs our help territorial rit orial or other limitations do not apply when the case of one in need is before us there Is no geographical limitation when we are extending the hand of assistance istance to one who needs need our help A A the spirit of christmas wherever there is found one or more whom we can and should assist there neighborliness must begin A minister once approached one of ills his parishioners with the request for a contribution for or the purpose of doing christian work abroad the particular field lie he had in ili mind was china the man replied that he was willing to help his neighbors but did not think he was called upon to help those as far away as china whom do you consider your neighbor asked the minister the man whose farm fann adjoins me was the prompt reply 1 I low how far down don into the earth does your land extend was the next question and the farmer just as promptly answered to the cen center terl 1 very well said the minister quickly there la Is a man down I 1 la n china whose land joins yours at the center of the earth he Is therefore your neighbor and needs your help this was a new thought to the church member he learned his lesson and we need to learn the same only as we do so will we be able t to broaden our lives into the fullness of the lafof alf of jesus tile the christ the application of the teaching of jesus to business and society would produce a perpetual christmas season a time of peace and joy and happiness lasting throughout the year the giving of cheap presents or ar money however does not constitute christmas as well expect a bouquet of flowers how era however lovely to constitute summer 1 the christmas christinas spirit rather than the christmas show honors honore him whose birth no less than his life was the greatest christmas gift the world has ever rec received elved the christmas spirit brings us into closer touch with him whose very life was an exemplification of the precept it Is more blessed to give than to receive at As we celebrate the anniversary of tho the birth of jesus let not the going down of the sun mark the decline of the christmas spirit but as the days das come find and go and we ave enter the new year let ui us each one reach out the loving had to the sick the s nate and the outcast remembering that lesus the christ said Inasi nuch ns ve fe have done it unto the least of one it if these my brethren ye yc have done it t unto mel ite I 1 |