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Show I SPIRIT OF b : CHRISTMAS ? Y By Rev. Alan Pressley Wilson jsj 1924. Western Newspaper Union.) 1 T CHRISTMAS be merry, and A withal, ' And feast thy poor nelch-i'' nelch-i'' bors. the great with the small. So wrote the poet Tusser IlTS' many years ago, hut the i-gJ suggestion is just as pertl- T2i5Si nent totla-T as iI; vus tlien" If anything, we need to be reminded of our duty to our fellow-man fellow-man more today than our fathers did more today, indeed, than ever before. be-fore. This is true because the need for brotherhood is even more patent than at any other period of the history of the world. We live in an age when we think solely of ourselves and our Immediate families and we should have brought to our attention the fact that we owe a debt to our neighbor and that that debt must he paid. The story' Is told of a rich man who prayed Oh, Lord! bless me and my wife. My son, John, and his wife; Us four And no more! We blush for shame that there could be found one who is so narrow, yet I am assured that such people exist today. to-day. There are those who, when they have satisfied the needs of their own, assume a self-satisfied air and say that they have done their whole duty. Approach such a person and remind him of the need of a friend or a neighbor neigh-bor and he will ask the time-worn question: "Am I my brother's keeper? Haven't I enough to do to look after my own family?" The teachings of Jesus Christ answer the first question in the affirmative (and the latter in the negative) with even more emphasis than God answered Cain when he originated the selfish inquiry. Jesus taught that the Decalogue is summed up in the greater commandment "Thou Shalt love they neighbor as thyself," thy-self," and His definition of "neighbor" is any one who needs our help. Territorial Ter-ritorial or other limitations do not apply ap-ply when the case of one In need Is before us. There is no geographical limitation when we are extending the hand of assistance to one who needs our help: i . mm ' The Spirit of Christmas. wherever there Is found one or more whom we can (and should) assist, there neighhorliness must begin. A minister once approached one of his parishioners with the request for a contribution for the purpose of doing do-ing Christian work abroad. The particular par-ticular field he had In 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?" neigh-bor?" asked the minister. "The man whose farm adjoins me," was the prompt reply. "How far down Into the earth does yonr land exlend?" was the next question and the fanner just as promptly answered: "To the center!" "Very well," said the minister min-ister quickly, "There is a man down In 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 slow-going slow-going church member. He learned his lesson and we need to learn the same. Only as we do so will we he able to broaden our lives Into the fullness of the life of Jesus the Christ. The application of the teaching of Jesus to business and society would produce a perpetual Christmas season; a time of pence and joy and happiness lusting throughout the year. The giving of cheap presents or money, however, does not constitute Christmas; as well expect a bouquet of flowers (however lovely) to constitute consti-tute summer! The Christmas spirit, rather than the Christmas show, honors hon-ors Him whose birth, no less than Ills life, was the greatest Christ mas gift the world has ever received. 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." re-ceive." As we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Jesus let not the going down of the sun mark the decline of the Christmas spirit hut, as the days come and go, and we enter the new year, let us each one reach out the loving hart to the sl'-k, the unfortunate unfortu-nate and the outcast, remembering that lesus the Hirlst said: "Inasmuch as ve have done It unto the least of one f these, my brethren, ye have don it unto Me!" |