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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-12-21, Page 20Times-Aclvocate, December 21, 1978 realism By Rev. James E. Forsythe Exeter United Church Christmas was born A REAL was born. The church has had to emphasize this. In earlier days it wasn’t the divini­ ty of Christ that was questioned but his humanity, e.g., He only appeared to Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod. What a place and time to be born? Born in a stable cave. My plea today is for realism. Maybe I am overacting to the idealism of our day which often cops out of reali­ ty — whether it be among the young with their mind-blowing mysticism or the old clutching our securities and not too anxious to be disturbed. It is not that I want to deny you some of the frills of Christmas. Anything that can add to real joy can­ not be all that bad. My call is not to forget the facts of the story — the shepherds smelly from their work, the background of the oppression of oc­ cupation, the climate of violence and the fact that He came unto his own and his own received him not. It was (I) A REAL PLACE which Jesus came. Jesus was born Bethlehem. I don’t want to be to in a spoilsport. We have tended to sen­ timentalize and romanticize the place. Its name indicates a village in the grainfields. It was a workaday world. The shepherds were doing their job. The motel keeper had a good volume of business. What has Christmas to say to our industrial world, to our commercial world and to our technological world? It is little use belittling that world. Jesus came to his world. It wasn’t a perfect world. We must come to grips with ours, imperfect though it is. It is the kind of world that Dickens saw had nothing but a crust for Tiny Tim. It was a world of the Herods and his power structure. Herod would seek the young child and in turn slew all the children. Here was a race murder. Where is the reality of Christmas a- midst the cries of hurting children? Where is Christmas in the midst of cruel conditions? I am saying all this in case we ap­ proach Christmas as a kind of wonder world and not face the real world. The problem of the preacher is to penetrate through the ideas of babies and comets, wise men and shepherds and put them in modern clothing. We must show they were real people with real problems and hopes. I want to emphasize — that Christ­ mas has lasted these 2000 years not because it is an escape from reality but because people believe that God entered that world in the person of Jesus. The important thing is not what the world can do to us but what we do for it. The place was the real world. God will come in the singing of the carols BUT don’t miss Him in the face, the sweating face of a child who needs a fix. Maybe you’re that fix. Or don’t miss Him in the faces of a couple whose home is splintering to bits, and they need your steadying influence and your listening ear. Time* Eitablished 1873 Advocate Eslabltshed 1881 advocate I suffer. The New Testament shows the humanity of Jesus. There were times when he was exhausted. Emotionally he knew the meaning of anger. It is when you try to assess this man Jesus that you see His greatness. The insights of His teaching come down to us. Malcolm Muggeridge would write a book, “Jesus Rediscovered’’. He writes, “In Him shone the light of the world. I know absolutely that you can derive strength and illumination from a relationship with the man in the gospels.” We have the impact of that per­ sonality if Jesus in the New Testament and in the stories to whom He has come in many ways. Dietrich Bonhoeffer would celebrate Christmas in prison and find the meaning of Christmas. I believe that we need to meet the person Jesus in the experiences of our life. We must see Him as the Man for Others, but we must also see Him as the man for “me”. The manger isn’t a bad place to begin, but we have to put with the cradle the idea of a cross and a crown. All gospel. Lastly, Bethlehem PURPOSE. The child was to be a ruler. Jesus was the man born to be King. Herod didn’t doubt the reality of that claim. He tried a conspiracy with the Wisemen. One of the enigmas of history is how goodness survives when evil plots her conspiracy. As Christians, we believe that God will work His purpose out. We get impatient. Why is God so slow? Let us take time amid the rush to look at the purpose of Christmas. Joseph and Mary and a baby show God’s purpose for the family. Is there any substitute for the family? The question becomes so relevant to those of us who counsel so many in distress. One Christmas our church was ask­ ed to respond to a last minute call to play Santa to a family where dad had decided to walk out. I felt good in fulfilling the purpose of Jesus on behalf of our people. I suppose love describes that purpose. Somehow Scrooge is out of place a.t Christmas. I want to acknowledge the good work of many organizations who take the time to make Christmas a happy time. There isn’t much use in criticiz­ ing the Innkeeper for not giving Joseph a room if we ourselves don’t use the room we have at our festive table. Soon the Christmas season will go. Many get a big let-down. Let me plead with you to take Jesus with you into January and succeeding months. The Januarys of our life are often cold and depressive. The purpose of Jesus does not end with the first Christmas. The real force of Advent is that it is a preparation for the coming of the King. Some call it the Second Advent. We do know that the[Scriptures declare its fact but not its time. Take the Christmas hope with you. Christmas can bring many memories. Many of you will have a vacant chair in your home. Remember the verse not in that poor lowly stable, with the oxen standing by we shall see Him but in Heaven, Set at God’s right hand on high, When like stars, His children crowned. All in white shall wait around. May you and yours have a blessed Christmas Season. three are the Christian please note that out of would come a REAL am scaswaKss imes- *«*»*» feu* Hwwi Nor* MNiiiU J A Mw* ImnUm Mac* WJ SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor —- Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager — Harry DeVries Business Manager — Dick Jongkind ___Phone 235-1331 Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Thursday Morning a* Exeter, Ontario Second Clast Malt Regitfrafion Number 0386(*CNA SUBSCRIPTION RATES! Canada $11.00 Per Year; USA $22 Drawn by Debbie Josephson, Exeter Public School BATT’N AROUND .......with the editor Give it all you've got Well, here it is, our final column for 1978...in what seems to be about six months after we sat down to write our first one of the current year. Despite all the problems people en­ counter, the one which is often men­ tioned the most is the fact that time speeds by so quickly. The past year has certainly been no exception. Many of us have just finished making the final payment on last year’s Christ­ mas gifts and already the bills are star­ ting to arrive for this year’s celebra­ tion. For the past few days we’ve been compiling the annual yearrend review,., for next week’s publication. It’s a plea- -’ sarit task in some regards, but one that also brings with it a few sad memories that indicate that Christmas 1978 will not be as enjoyable for some. There will be some empty places at their dinner tables, although we trust the happy memories of loved ones who will not be there will in some way fill the void. For some, this will be their final Christmas with friends and relatives. That may appear to be a rather in­ congruous thought at this time of joy and happiness, but when studied more carefully, in reality points up the need to share this precious time of year even more joyfully with those about us. It’s a time to look beyond the tinsel and the material aspect of the holiday and to realize that the love and un­ derstanding that can be shared is the most precious gift of all. Grasp the opportunity this Christmas to say in word and deed that which is too often left undone. It will bring a special meaning to your Christmas en­ joyment that will carry on throughout the year and for the many Christmases to come.* * * Looking through the pages of last year also brings to mind that it was not a particularly enjoyable one for many people in view of the many confron­ tations that beset out community in the way of strikes and squabbles. Many of those situations were down­ right . disparaging with angry words tandj deeds; being generated from many, ‘Sides. Hopefully, the time that has elapsed has healed the wounds. The true test, of course, only comes when it is determined if we have learn­ ed from those unfortunate incidents so they are not repeated. We trust that will be the case as we wipe the slate clean to embark on a new year. * * * On the whole, the past year has been kind to most people. The list of com­ munity and individual achievements is lengthy indeed, providing the in­ disputable evidence that we live in a most favored place where oppor­ tunities abound for those who are will­ ing to expend the necessary fortitude and dedication. There was an attitude in the minds of some that the rosy bloom may be diminishing, but the gloom and doom that was espoused was easily accepted Sugar and Spice Dispensed by Smiley It's a very trying time December is a trying time. For one thing, it’s so dang SUDDEN. There you are, tottering along a day at a time, thinking it’s still fall and you must get the snow tires and storms on one of these fine Saturdays, and throw some firewood into the cellar, and get some boots and replace the gloves you lost last March. Christmas is away off there. And then — bang! — you look out one morning, and there’s December, in all it’s unglory: a bitter east wind driving snow, and a cold chill settles in the very bones of your soul. Winter wind as sharp as a witch’s tooth sneaks in around uncaulked doors and windows. Your wife complains of the terrible draught from under the basement door. You investigate and find that one of the basement windows has been blown in and has smashed on the woodpile. You clamber up over the wood, knocking pieces off shins and knuckles, and jam some cardboard in the gap. Creep cautiously outside, and nearly bust your bum. There’s ice under that thar snow. Make it to the garage, and find that your car doors are all frozen solid shut. Beat them with your bare fists until the latter are bleeding and your car is full of dents. Finally get them open with a bucket of hot water and a barrel of hotter language. Slither and grease your way to work, arriving in a foul mood and with bare hands crippled into claws, bootless feet cold as a witch’s other appendage. Come out of work to go home and find a half-inch of frozen rain and snow covering your car, and ho sign of your scraper, and another deep dent where some idiot slid into your car door on the parking lot. I could go on and on, but it’s only rub­ bing salt in the wounds of the average Canadian. Get home from work and find that the furnace is on the blink, and the repairman is tied up for the next two days. And your wife is also fit to be tied up over your dilatoriness. Surely there is some way raround this suddeness of December. b there not some far-seeing politician (if that is not a contradiction in terms), who would introduce a bill to provide for an extra month between, let’s say, November 25th and December 5th. I wouldn’t care what he called it. It could be Lastember, referring to your fast-dying hope that there wouldn’t be a winter this year. Or Last Call, or Final Warning, or She’s Acomin! Anything that gave us a good jolt. It would be a good thing for merchants. They could have special Lastember sales of gloves and boots and snow tires and ear muffs and caulking guns and weather stripping and antifreeze and nose warmers, before plunging into their pre­ Christmas sales, which are promptly replaced by their January sales. It would be great for the Post Office, which could start warning us in June that all Christmas mail must be posted by the first day of Lastember if we wanted it delivered before the follow­ ing June. It would make a nice talking point for all those deserters and traitors and rich people who go south every year. Instead of smirking, “Oh, we’re not go­ ing south until Boxing Day. Hate to miss an old-fashioned Canadian Christ­ mas,” they could really shove it to us by Iearing, “Yes, we thought we’d wait this year until the last day of Lastember, you know. Avoid the pushing and vulgarity of the holiday rush. If nothing else, it would give us a break from the massive nauseating Ct-31 1 by those who realize that a bit of belt­ tightening isn’t that difficult to take in view of the fact that our standard of living is beyond reason in the first place. It’s a message that will probably prevail throughout the coming year and possibly the youth in our midst will find it most difficult to accept if they judge their mode of living on that which their elders have come to expect and enjoy. But they must be reminded that op­ portunity still exists for those who are willing to pay. the price. Those Who sit on their haunches and expect the good times to roll, will obviously be disap­ pointed. Most of our elected officials at all levels have aired their pleas for restraint, and as long as everyone ex­ hibits that and doesn’t think it’s only up to the Other fellow, the new year should be comparable to the one which is now waning. We’re still the envy of the vast ma­ jority of people around the world and they’d find it most enjoyable living un­ der our so-called hard times. ★ ★ * So, as we say farewell for 1978, our message is simple: may you enjoy love and understanding this festive season and health and happiness in the coming year. From our house to yours, thanks for all your kindnesses in the past. volume of pre-Christmas advertising, which begins toward the end of October and continues, remorselessly, right into Christmas Day. Best of all, perhaps it would give dummies like me a chance to avoid looking like such a dummy. Procrastinators, who flourish during a sunny November, such as we had this year, would have no more excuses. All their wives would have to do is point to the calendar and say, “Bill, do you realize it’s only three days until Lastember. Isn’t it time you did your Lastember chores?” In fact, if that fearless politician who is going to introduce the Lastember Bill in the house wants some advice, here is a codicil for him. Somewhere in the Bill should be the warning, in bold type: “Procrastinators will be Prosecuted!” Jeez, why not? They prosecu te you for everything else. If such a month were added to the calendar — maybe we could start it with Grey Cup Day — people like me wouldn’t go on thinking that Christmas is weeks away. Instead, on the last day of Lastember, with all their winter chores in hand, they’d know that Christmas was practically on top of them, like a big, old horse blanket, and they’d leap into the proper spirit, lining up a Christmas tree, laying in their booze, tuning up their pipes for the carols. As it is now, we know that Christmas is like a mirage. It’s way off there somewhere, and no need to panic. Then, with that startling Suddeness, it’s December 22nd, all the Christmas trees have been bought, the only remaining turkeys look like vultures, and the liquor store is bedlam. Who’s for a Lastember? nr/ji ■■ a 55 Years Ago Dr. C. Fletcher of Hensail occupied the pulpit in the Presbyterian Church on Sunday in the absence of the pastor. Mr. W. E. Sanders on Monday shot one of the big California jack rabbits and experienced a lively time doing so. He was on the road in his buggy waiting for the dogs to bring the rabbit around when it came down the road toward him, closely followed by the dogs. He pulled the horse to one side and yelled to scare the rabbit into the field and shot it from the buggy. The noise of the gun frightened the horse and they went down the road pell mell for one half mile before he could stop the beast. He says he will not try it again. The rabbit weighed over 11 pounds. Mr. Matt Routley was elected president of the Exeter District Plowmen’s Association at their annual meeting in the town hall last Saturday afternoon. The Boy Scouts of town should be commended for their kindly Christmas spirit in distributing a large number of Santa Claus stockings to the children of the town on Christmas eve. 30 Years Ago New 1949 licence plates will go on sale Monday January 3. This year there are 35 on the roll for classes in the High School for displaced persons. The course of study is basic English. It was the stork that brought Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Wein their best Christmas present this year, Sherry, a baby son, was born on-Christmas morning. Mr. Charles Waghorn was the winner of the radio at Robertson’s Drug Store. The best bushel of turnips submitted by the members of the Huron club at Achievement Night was that of Harry Dougall. Santa Claus arrived by air at the Centralia RCAF Station on Wednesday af­ ternoon and thrilled close to 500 children. 20 Years Ago The CGIT of Caven Presbyterian Church presented the Christmas Vesper service in the church on Sunday evening. Carole Hogarth was the leader for the service. In competition with United Church Sunday Schools from London and surrounding district, four pupils from James Street United Church in Exeter upheld their knowledge of the Bible without a defeat, The members of the team were Ann Fairbairn, Elsie Gosar, Larry Idle, and George Godbolt with Linda Hunter- Duvar and Douglas Huntley as spares. A threat of rabies in the area has prompted Hay Township to pass a bylaw stating that all dogs must be tied up, effective im­ mediately until further notice. A new feature for pupils of Lumley School in Usborne Township this year was an old-fashioned sleigh ride around th district. It was organized by teacher Mrs. William Mair. 15 Years Ago About $200 worth of sweaters, slacks and other apparel was stolen from T. C. Joyntand Son Men’s Wear store at Hensail Christmas night. Entry was gained by breaking the glass in the front door. Loss of around $25,000 was estimated in a barn fire near Clandeboye early Monday morning which destroyed vehicles, livestock and produce. The barn belonged to Joe Vanneste, RR 1 Clandeboye. The value of a young girl’s letter to Santa Claus now has reached the $2,500 mark since its Christmas sen­ timents were first published in the T-A eight years ago. Elizabeth Knox, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Norman Knox wrote the letter which read “There are children who need presents more than I do. I hope you have plenty of toys for them.’’ Her wish was read by “Another Elizabeth” in London who made an anonymous donation to the girl through the Free Press. Since then, Elizabeth has received a total of $2,500 all of which is in a trust fund for her education. Christmas BY ROBIN KRAFT Stephen Central C is for Christ who was born that night H oly was that scene R is for reighning over the world I is for I love Christmas S is for the shining star T is for the townspeople seeing him M ary was his mother mild A is for adoring him S on of the Father Santa BYKIMHORNER and ARLENE WALPER Stephen Central Nick, Jolly, chubby, Driving reindeer sled, Kindhearted, generous, noble, cheerful, Santa A Special Light BY LORRI MCDONALD Grade 6 Mount Carmel Way up high Shone a light Big and bright That led Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem In a stable lean and low Mary gave birth to a boy In her arms he was held with joy As sheperds watched And angels sang So on Christmas day We remember it that way. Christmas BY KIM BISHOP Rooms Mount Carmel C hristmas presents under me H appy to see Remembering I’m a tree not a person I like to see everyone happy S ometimes I fall over T reat to open presents under me M any decorations on my branches A lways merry to be a tree S anta puts presents under me. T ime to rest my branches R esting my branches E veryone has a Christmas tree E very tree is jolly about Christmas. All About Christmas BY ROOM 5 Of Biddulph Central I’ve often heard my teacher say, In the snow the children play On Christmas Eve, They’re so relieved! All little children prepare for bed, While great big thoughts danse in their heads Of sugar plums and candy, too, And hopes that all their dreams come true. It’s still dark as they creep down the stairs To shake and guess about what might be theirs. All of a sudden the lights switch on, They twirl around and See mother’s yawn. Excitedly the wrappings are torn This has been waited for, Christmas morn. New games and toys bring lots of joys For merry little girls and boys. Delighted smells soon fill the air, Turkeys, cranberries, pies to share. All are so full of good things to eat, It’s even hard to stand on their feet. Stuffed, sleepy and sorry it’s done, But it was sure alot of fun. The excitement is over I’m sore to say, Saint Nicholas will be back for next Christmas day! December BY BRENDA HUXTABLE Grade 5 J.A.D. McCurdy Delighted children play in the soft white snow Every light breeze has a friendly whisper, saying “hello.” Christmas is the joyous holiday in this frosty month. Even grownups like to see the flakes come down. Mothers and Fathers rush around looking for gifts Boys and girls dream of sugars and sweets Evergreens let the snow fall on them Restless children can’t wait until Santa comes.