Christmas Thoughts
Improvement Era, vol. 6, no. 2, December 1902, pp. 136 to 140
Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations
CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS.
Greeting:
The Improvememt Era wishes all its readers "A Merry Christmas." This holiday time is a suitable season to enjoy the spirit of gratitude and generosity, which, indeed, we should always cultivate. you would be happy and really enjoy Christmas, If
strive with all your might to make some other person glad. God has been good to us the past year, and we have the more reason to be kind and thoughtful of each other. Let us rejoice and do good to others, as a people, as associations, as brethren and sisters, and the Lord will return to us his love a thousand fold, and give us all "A Merry Christmas." The Song of Peace and Good Will.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this And day in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. this shall be a sign Ye shall find the babe wrapped in unto you: swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass as the angels were gone away from them unto heaven, the shepherds said one to another. Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came in haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a
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manger. And when they had seen it they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. Luke ii: 8-20.
Bethlehem.
The modern town is beautifully situated on the sides and summit of a semicircle of hills. All about it are olive groves and vineyards, pasture lands and grain fields. It is in truth a "House
of Bread" — and, indeed, of water, for, although it has but one spring, and that a poor one, the so-called Fountain of David, the aqueduct carrying water from Solomon's Pool, is tapped at the foot of the hill, and there are also reservoirs. Indeed, there is no more prosperous looking town and region in all Southern Palestine. The town itself, with its eight thousand inhabitants, lies a little off the fine carriage road from Jerusalem to Hebron, and to reach it one
has to drive up a rather steep and rough road running between garden walls and ubiquitous buildings. As one gets into the town, the road grows narrower, until at last its width would not permit two carriages' passing each other. For this reason, the authorities compel all vehicles to enter the town by one street, and leave it by another. In some ways, Bethlehem is a disappointing place to visit. Al- though it is almost exclusively a Christian town, its inhabitants live by the trade they carry on with visitors, and no sooner does the traveler disa ount in the square before the Church of the Nativity — than he is surrounded by a shouting crowd of men there are said to be nineteen different establishments manufacturing souvenirs- each endeavoring to force his victim within his little shop. The olive-wood candlesticks and necklaces, the carved mother of pearl, the cups from the black stone of the Dead Sea— all these are forced upon one at prices fully twice those for which the same article can be purchased in Jerusalem. Such disagreeable features, however, one must train oneself to overlook, if a journey in the Holy Land is to yield anything but
disenchantment and disappointment. For after all, such matters are but incidents. The chief object in visiting Bethlehem is not ta patronize peddlers, but to see 'the spot, where, according to the traditions of centuries, Jesus was born. The Church of the Nativity — or, more accurately, of St.
Mary— is a noble basilica, which, as well as any of the ancient churches of Rome itself, carries one back to the early form of a Christian church. It is evident from the few remains of pillars that at one time it possessed a great collonnaded square or atrium in front of its main entrance, but this has altogether disappeared^ and the facade of the church itself shows sadly the changes which time and rebuilding have wrought. Directly under the transept, the Chapel of the Nativity is in a subterranean room, possibly a part of a khan which had its rooms cut in the side of the hill, or, as seems more likely, a part of a catacomb like those which abound throughout the region. Three entrances lead to it or to connecting subterranean passages, one being in each of the portions of the church just mentioned. The most direct approach is by a flight of stairs leading from the south end of the Greek transept. As one goes down these stairs in the twilight, one comes suddenly into a room about forty feet long, twelve wide, and ten high. It is paved, and its walls are lined with marble, and is lighted by thirty-two lamps. At the foot of the altar, at the east end of the room, a silver star is set into the pavement with the inscription. Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est. As our little party came into this place so hallowed by tradition, the most skeptical could not but be touched with the pro- foundest reverence. There in the dim light were a dozen nuns up- on their knees, silently praying toward the sacred spot. Their earnest faces, and the memory of what the spot represented, gave to the superstition and rivalry of sects a pathos shared by no other of the numerous holy places in Palestine, unless it be Gethsemane. Just out from this long room is a little chamber, three steps lower, in which is the chapel of the manger. Here tradition says Jesus was laid after his birth. The room is hung with twadry tapestry and pictures. The niche for the "manger," which itself has disappeared, like the altar of th3 magi opposite, resembles one of the little niches made for the reception of the body in funeral
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chambers, and seems to have been cut in the living rock. The front of the little opening is covered with an iron grating, behind which lies the wax doll which represents the infant Christ. Shailer Mathews.
By Loving We Live. Oh, Christmas is coming again, you say, And you long for the time he is bringing; But the costliest gift may not gladden the day, Nor help on the merry bells ringing. Some getting is losing, you understand, Some hoarding is far from saving; What you hold in your hand may slip from your hand; There is something better than having. We are richer for what we give. And only by giving we live.
Your last year's presents are scattered and gone; You have almost forgotten who gave them: But the loving thoughts you bestow live on, As long as you choose to have them. Love, love is your riches, though ever so poor; No money can buy that treasure; Yours always, from robber and rust secure; Your own without stint or measure. It is only love that can give: It is only by loving we live.
Under the Holly Bough.
Ye who have scorned each other, or injured friend or brother. In this fast-fading year !
Ye who by word or deed have made a kind heart bleed, Come, gather here !
Let sinned against and sinning forget their strife's beginning,
And join in friendship now; Be links no longer broken, be sweet forgiveness spoken. Under the holly bough.— C/iarZes Mackey.
The Christmas Spirit. Mantle the earth in its drapery white. Scatter the glittering frost-jewels bright; Sweep, with keen winds, all the atmosphere clear.
Fill it with rays of the sunshine's glad cheer. Spirit of Christmas! Peace and good will, Hope of the ages! Your mission fulfil
Garland the home with the evergreen fair, Deck the green boughs of the Christmas tree rare; Carol sweet songs with their greetings of cheer, Herald the coming of Happy New Year! Spirit of Christmas! Peace and good will, Hope of the ages! Your mission fulfil
Lighten the heart by your message of love. Lift it in praises for gifts from above; Hall ow the day when the Christ-Child was born! Spirit of Christmas Peace and good will, Hope of the ages! Your mission fulfil! Selected.
Bethlehem Cradles a King.
There's a song in the air, there's a star in the sky; A mother's soft prayer and a baby's low cry: And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing. For the manger at Bethlehem cradles a King. Holland.
The Old Year.
Yes, smg a song for him, my friends, the year is lonely now! The frost and rime of winter-time lie thick on beard and brow. He had his faults, his foibles, too His follies, doubts, and fears; Yet, take him all in all, 'tis true He brought more smiles than tears. So we will speak him fair, my friends, we loved him well, you know, And sing the good old year a song before we let him go. —Helen Whitney Clark. Christmas Bells.
bells, sweet bells! across the years,
Half gay, half sad, your chiming; Old joys ye tell, old sorrows swell Throughout your tender rhyming. happy bells! through coming years. We hear in your glad sending The message still of peace, good will, All jarring discords blending. Selected.