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Show 7 CHRISTMAS I By Raw Alan Preuley Wilton K IMS. Wmftu Ritmsw Dates.) " V ". T CHRIST MAI be merry, sad A withal, ' And ft thy peer . Jt kor'(Llh wlu u So wrote tbe poet Tosses KfQIS' many years ago, but tbe PjwvS auggestlon Is Just as perti-nent perti-nent today aa it was tbea. I .If any thing,, we need te be reminded of ear duty to our fellow-saaa fellow-saaa more today than oar fathers aid more today, Indeed, tbaa ever before. be-fore. This la true because the aeed for brotherhood is even more patent tbaa at any other period of the history of the world. We live la an age when we think aotwy or ourselves ana oar immediate families and we should have brought to eur attention the fact that we owe a debt to our neighbor and that that debt must be paid. The story Is told f a rich man who yirayed ' Oh, Lord! blaas me and mf wife. My son, Joha, and his wife; Us four ' Aad no moral - f . 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-sutlaled air and ssy " 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 ho will ask the Mine-worn question: "Am I my brother's keeperl 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 nsgstive) with even more emphasis V tbsa ,.God answered , Cain when he originated the seiqh 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 U no geographical limitation when we are extending the hand of assistance to one who needs our help: The 8plrlt ef Christmas. ' wherever there la found one or mora whom we can (snd should) assist, there nelghborllness must begin. A minister one approached one of bla parishioners with the request for a contribution for the purpose of doing do-ing Christian work abroad. The particular par-ticular field he Jiad In mind was China. Tha man replied that he was willing s- Ta help" Ml neighbors but did not think ha waa called upon to help those at far away as China. "Whom do. you consider your neighbor neigh-bor f asked tha minister. "The man whose farm adjoins me," was the prompt reply. "How far down Into tha earth does yonr land extend?" was tha next question and tbe farmer Just aa promptly answered: "To the center I "Very well," said the minister min-ister quickly, "There Is a man down la 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 be 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 peace and Joy and happiness lasting 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 con.stl-- con.stl-- tute summer I The Christmas spirit, rather than the Christmas show, honors hon-ors Him whose birth, no less than His Ufa, waa the greatest Christmas gift the world has ever received. The Christmas spirit brings us into closer touch with Him whose very life was aa 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 tha Christmas spirit but, as the days come and go, and we enter the new year, let us each one reach out the loving had to tha sick, the unfortunate unfortu-nate and the outcast, remembering that Tesus the Christ said: "Inasmuch ss ye have done it unto the least of one f these, my brethren, ye have don tt unto Mel", . |