HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1974-12-25, Page 2WEDNESDAY) DECEMBER 25,1197
Serving Brussels and the surrounding community.
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BRUSSELS
ONTARIO
VERWMO
CANCULATON
ESTAIIILISHEB !vs:
Brussels Post
And it came to pass
Sugar and Spice
By Bill Smiley
Luke 2:1-10
And it came to pass in those days that there went
out a decree from Ceasar Augustus, that all the
world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first
made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all
Went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And
Joseph alsd went up from Galilee, out of the 'city of
Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David;-which is
called Bethlehem (because he was of the house and
lineage of David), to be taxed with Mary his'
espoused wife, being great ,with child.
And so it was, that while they were there, the
days were accomplished that she could be delivered.
And she brought forth her first-born son, and laid
him in a manger; because there was no room for
them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock
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 day in the city of David, A
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a
sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in
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 peade, good will'
toward men".
Where's the peace?
Ours is not a world of peace and goodwill among
men.
In Africa, rival races of blacks and white struggle
-- in the open and in secret, with and without
violence -- for dominance.
In the Middle East, great powers escalate each
other's armament bids.
Fighting has become so commonplace in same
places that newspapers hardly report it any more:
Viet Nam, Northern Ireland, Cyprus ... And the
repression of an entire continent is ignored - in South
America an unofficial alliance of military regimes
tightens the screws on a hundred million poor.
And in Bangladesh and India and who knows how
many more centres of suffering, millions more die
the slow agony of starvation.
There seems to be something incongruous about
celebrating Christmas in such a world. For
Christmas speaks of kindness and love, peace and
goodwill.
Yet we should remember that the first Christmas
was not a peaceful one. The baby Jesus was born into
a world of tyranny, of hate, of vicious dictators and
treacherous politicians. In an effort to destroy that
child, a pitiless Herod slaughtered all the children of
Bethlehem. Nor was the life of Jesus particularly
peaceful. He was always under suspicion, always
under attack.His life was a conflict with forces of
evil, forces which eventually brought him to the
Cross.
Se in celebrating Christmas, we should'See in the
one called Christ a challenge; not only to the Herods
and Pilates of 2,000 years ago, but to those of every
day, of every nation.
That was the hope, of Christmas then. It is still the
hope, of Christmas today, But We need to work
harder to realize that hope.
(Contributed)
And the same to you! I probably
should have-sent off a Merry Christmas
column to all my readers about the first of
November, to make sure it was received by
December 25th.
I know this won't be. But it's not your
faithful chronicler's fault, nor the fault of
your favourite weekly newspaper. The
entire blame must rest on the broad
shoulders — they have to be broad — of
that modern phenomenon of efficiency,
Canada Post.
People in that august institution must be
afraid of getting their hands soiled by
handling the average weekly newspaper,
full of violence, rape, murder and
muggings. They probably use a shovel.
Shovel it into a corner until some day,
between coffee breaks, they are so bored
that they resort to sorting and sending the
weekly paper.
When I was in the business, we used to
mail the paper on Thursday, and people in
Ohio or Texas would receive it on Monday.
Nowadays, I count on my weekly paper
being a week late in arriving.Time after
time, I've been tempted to take up my
typewriter and dasy off an encouraging
note to a weekly editor who has written a
particularly pungent editorial, only to
pause in the certainty that by the time I'd
received his paper, and the time he'd
received my letter, the hot issue he'd
attacked or defended would be three weeks
old, and as cold as a corpse.
Well, we mustn't be mean at Christmas,
must we? Although I don't see why not.
The same miserable sods are going to be
around on Boxing Day, and the same
inefficient, insolent institutions will be
back in business on Jan. I.
Since it's too late to wish everyone a
Merry, I'll put everything in the past tense.
I hope you got exactly what you wanted
for Christmas, whether it was a baby or a
kazoo or a sober husband.
I hope you got Joy. And if you didn't, I
hope you were happy with Myrtle or Hazel
or' Pearl or Genevieve:
If you wanted a pair of those foam-
rubber kneepads for scrubbing, I hope you
got them. And if you wanted a mink wrap, I
hope you didn't,
I hope you were not pregnant if you
didn't want to be, and Were if you wanted
to be.
I hope yell didn't bust Your bum on those
new down-hill skits, or bust your heart On
those new cross country skits, both of
Which you are too young or to old to be
doing anything with except feeding
living room fire.
If you are old and lonely, I hope
received a warm telephone call — about
minutes worth, and not collect — fr
someone who is young and loves you. A
if you are young and lonely, I hope you
a long telephone call, collect, fr
someone who is old and loves you.
If you are a farmer, I hope you slept
Christmas eve with visions of sngarplu
and reindeer fast in your head. Jeez, a
can't make any money on beef these da
Might as well get into reindeer.
If you are a schoolteacher, I hope
remembered at Christmas that you
were once a fat and ugly duckling, ridd
with pimples, shy to the point of faintin;
asked a question, lazy as a cut cat, sort
dirty, really, and yet a striving, yearni;
beseeching human bean.
If you. were a mother at Christmas
well, all I can say is that I hope you beli(
in a life after death.
And if you were a father, well, all I
say is that I hope you, too, believe it
world in the hereafter. Prefera
segregated.
If you are a business tycoon, a un
leader, or anyone in the upper echelons
education, I hope your ulcer ruined yi
Christmas dinner.
If you are an old maid, and have b(
lurking these many years in the fold of y(
▪ "sick" mother's nightygown, I hope 3
decided at Christmas to unlurk. Same
old male spinsters. Unlurk. Boy, t
almost sounds like a dirty word, if 3
practise. Try it. Unlurk!
Whatever happened at Christmas, ha
in there. We need you. We hewers of we
and drawers of water, as Canadians
• known, have to stick together and keep
hewing drawers.
Every time there comes a crack abi
hewers and drawers, I burst into a hue a
cry. Bursting into a hue is farily simple
can turn purple on very little provocatii
as my family will tell,
Almost anybody can hew or hue. But
drawers are the problem. Nobody we;
drawers any more. How can you cry thi
when there ain"t none. Th is is a probli
that Canadians are going to have to give
good deal of`thought to in The coming ye
Well, those are my season's greetings
Awl and Sundry (my legal rep,
sentataives), as well as to all you faith
readers.
And lang may your him reek, on N
`Year's Eves