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Show f 1 ; . . - - v X '. m-i i . If .Every .Day Were ! i Christmas i ' ' . jj?? TEXT Romans B: 5 "One man esteemeih one dny above f !3 another: another man esleemeth every day alike. Let every jjjf f man tie fullv assured in his own mind." fv W 1!) I HAT if every (Jay were Christmas? The fetf I'C vrj fT suggestion at first blush is perhaps not J- i fv-j iJn altogether agreeable. One can imagine iJUy' numerous protests against the idea be- -SJS?t5? cause of the excesses to which many go li$ fa jA&TTi 011 Christmas holidays. Let it be grant-Si grant-Si "iriicfo' er ffee'y that Christmas is misused, ? IM that it is often a season of excesses and $ p UVM extremes; even so, who of us would do fej? t.S "Fspiil away with Christmas? For despite all P'? U-,S' excesses 0"f the, holiday season and f Jr iH e ' the hardship it works on many, is there J hp not a rainbow of glory over every jpj recurring Christmas celebration? T Christmas is a season of prophetic idealism and a iV rebuke to selfish living. At. the approach of the anni-V5 anni-V5 versary of our Lord's birth, men and women whose thoughts have been mostly of self are moved to think of others. The idea of serving others and making others ijb happy affects even the blase and the indifferent. Some- j3 $ how, the idea that it is more blessed to give than to bar- v 0$ gain finds lodgment in minds unused to tender and benev- ,(,? olent thoughts. For a brief period, cruel competitions i,7 J5 that so sorely grind human society are lessened if not fji1 forgotten. For the time being, all humanity seems to JJ 'be one family. There is a delight in seeing everybody v h$ joyous. The foreigner is made to feel at home. Artificial barriers are broken, and there come even into hard faces some softened lines. The spirit of Christmas penetrates (5 even behind stone walls, and the prisoner is made to !st? know that he is still remembered and that society has not jfjjj k'jj abandoned hope in hjm. iJT Christmas is the one season of the year when we S Sv are especially reminded to take Jesus ' seriously The P Sermon on the Mount seems practicable then the Beatitudes possible in daily life. Even the great words, jb "Peace on earth, good-will toward men," actually appear j3 workable at Christmastide. The old text so precious, so peculiarly appropriate, John 3: 16. finds lodgment in our Jfy heart of hearts: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in v3 Him should not perish, but have eternal life." There vS - fK'l comes into our minds the conviction that we have not W taken seriously the lessons that our Lord taught, but f that now we take Him at His word; we share; we give, J?J tl we sacrifice, we find a new joy growing out of these jj very practical and beautiful ministrations. |