HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-12-12, Page 40Times-Advocate, December 19, 1979
God's gift
to us ...
By REV. BRIAN R. ELDER
Zion United Church, Crediton
Christmas is the time of the year
when children begin to look through the
catalogues and the stores, and their
• thoughts turn to the question, "What
will I get for Christmas?" It is the child
in all of us that asks the same question.
Then there is a second question that
comes to our minds, and one that we
give a great deal of thought. That ques-
tion is. "What will I give for Christ-
mas?"
But what was the key that started
all of this giving and celebrating? It
seems that this spirit of giving that is
set free at Christmas, comes from the
very nature of God Himself. God put
this spirit of giving in our hearts,
because it was also in His heart.
Jesus told us that our Heavenly
Father loves to give good things to His
children even more than earthly
parents love to give gifts to their
children. If we want to know the source
of this spirit of giving, maybe we can
find it in the words of our Bible,
"Thanks be,to God for his inexpressible
gift" (II Corinthians 9:15).
(I) Jesus is a gift that is too great to
be expressed in any words because of
the wonder of His coming. If we think
about the Christmas story deeply
enough. we discover that it is a growing
wonder.
Think about the growth of the
Christmas celebration itself. Even the
date itself can be seen as a demonstra-
tion of Christ's power. The date was
taken over into the Christian calendar
from the Roman celebration of the win-
ter solstice. This is the time of the
year, after the shortest day, when the
light and warmth of the sun begins to
return to that Mediterranean world.
Christ brought light and warmth
into the world through His birth and
life, which impressed the Roman
Christians as being similar to the sun's
return northward.
Think about how the celebration of
Christ's birth has gathered traditions
from every culture. It has taken the fir
tree from pre-Christian Germany, and
transformed it into the Christmas tree.
It has included the yule log from pagan
Iceland, the mistle-toe from early
England. and the Jolly St. Nicholas
from Holland.
The greatness of Christ is that He
includes the goodness and gladness in
the best of all people. It is as if this
dark world was covered with unrealiz-
ed dreams. and then Christ came like a
magnet, drawing the best of all these
dreams to Himself.
(II) Jesus is God's inexpressible
gift, because of the warming glow that
His coming brings. What is the secret
of the glow that Bethlehem brings?
Look around you and see what
happens during the Christmas season.
The streets and homes shed some of the
drabness of winter, and become
coloured with lights and decorations.
People whom we have not heard from
in many months and maybe we have not
seen for longer than that send letters
and Christmas greetings. People that
we meet every day seem to make a
special effort to be friendly.
The warmth of this holy season is
the glow which comes from getting
back to the simple and genuine things.
For almost a year we have been im-
mersed in the plans and imitations of
what we call society, but at this time of
the year we can shed that outward shell
of worry and anger, and turn to our
dreams, our thoughts and our
memories.
It is the glow which comes from the
innocence and eagerness of childhood,
when we can get rid of this heavy coat
of grownupness, which we often pass
off as wisdom. It is the time when we
can let the child within ourselves come
out and enjoy the season.
It is the glow which comes from
emptying our hearts of envy and
greed, so that the Spirit of love and
goodwill may take hold.
It is the glow which comes from the
mingling of the power of the Almighty
God with the little tender, tugging
human loves. At the Manger in
Bethlehem, the best is born in us again.
(III) A third reason we can call
Christ, God's "In expressible" gift is
the glory of His coming. Luke begins
the Christmas story of the shepherds
with the angels announcing, "Glory to
God in the Highest". If only at this
Christmas time - the beauty of
Bethlehem, the blending of tenderness
and power, the goodness of God which
it reveals - if only all of this could
sweep out minds, our hearts and our
souls this Christmas season.
May the blessings of the Christ-
child be with you during this Christmas
season.
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SATIN AROUND with the edito
Another decade ebbs away
NORIONAMMIO 4;.s.
Perspectives ugar and Spice
Dispensed by Smiley
ample indication that the new decade
will not be greeted very warmly by
some in view of the insurmountable
problems which this old world of ours
seems to be facing.
However, we wonder if it is really
any different than the apprehensions
most people had when they watched
1969 slowly ebb away. There was
probably as much pessimism at that
time as there is now and yet, touch
wood, you have survived through those
10 years.
In fact, most of us have survived very
well indeed, thank you. Those who
didn't were probably in the group who
worried too much about the future and
failed to grasp the new opportunities
which the' passing of each day provides
for each person.
Those who enjoyed the past decade
the most were those who greeted each
d0twith a smile and seized every
minute of their waking time to look at
life and really see it ... tried it on in all
its wonderful diverse facets lived it
to its fullest ... and never succumbed to
the pessimism that claimed so many of
their contemporaries.
Sure the next decade is filled with
some frightening challenges. But in
view of our vast technological gains
there is ample reason to believe those
challenges will be met as successfully
as other challenges of the past which
were equally as frightening.
It's been a fact of life for decades
that when the going gets tough, the
tough get going.
Because this is the last column of the
year, I would be remiss if I failed to
take this opportunity to extend heart-
felt thanks to all those who have con-
tributed in so many ways to get this
newspaper out on the streets each
week.
There are few businesses which can
rely as heavily on the public to help
produce their product in the first in-
stance and then have those same people
keep the balance sheet acceptable to
the auditors by buying the finished
product.
So, to all the area correspondents and
all the various organizations and in-
dividuals who help supply Ross, Mary,
Tom and myself with the information
that has constituted the past 50 issues,
we extend our sincere thanks for your
time and consideration.
And to all our readers, we extend a
very warm and sincere wish that this
festive season will be one that is filled
with love and understanding and that it
will provide the launching platform for
a happy and prosperous new year ...
and the exciting decade that is on your
doorstep.
Never give a minute of it back until
there is nothing left of it!
Families don't write anymore. They
telephone. With the state of our mail
service, it's no wonder. You could send
two Christmas cards in a row to Uncle
Ed, before you got the letter from Aun-
tie Agnes, mailed 13 months before,
telling you that he was either dead, or
had run off with a strip tease artist.
That's what happened to us recently.
My kid brother had been taken sudden-
ly and rather violently ill. We had a
couple of $34 Conversations from his
hospital•oom in Montreal. He was to let
me know of any change. Total silence.
After a month of this, I phoned my
older sister, and asked whether he
were dead. She hadn't a clue. Said he'd
just vanished. Fair enough. I wasn't go-
ing to phone.
Then my daughter began phoning
from Moosonee, telling my wife about
her troubles with beating off the
bachelors, and telling me innocuous
stuff like she was going to buy a snow-
mobile, and would we take the kids
while she attended a weekend con-
ference, and asking me how to cope
with students who threatened to shoot
the principal if she kicked them out of
class.
Each of these calls was returned,
almost nightly, by my wife, who had
thought up more piercing questions and
answers in the intervening 24 hours.
And I had to talk to the grandboys, find
out what they wanted for Christmas,
who had won the latest fight, and such-
like.
Then came a call from my son,
collect, as usual, who said he was in
Florida, on the way home from South
America. When he'd arrive he didn't
know. Grind, grind. Teeth,
Then a close relative jumped through
the window of the fifth-floor apartment
and was pronounced D.O.A. at the
hospital. This spewed a frenzied round
of long-distance calls to police,
relatives, her son and so on. It also
elicited similar calls on the in-line for
us.
Well-acquainted strangers
By Syd Fletcher
A lady who had taught
with me for several years
seemed to be a confirmed
spinster, completely
dedicated to her profession.
Imagine the staff's surprise
after one summer vacation
when she turned up with a
handsome husband, a Jc.rda-
nian by birth.
We were even more sur-
prised when she announced
her maternity leave, and
then produced a fine son,
just a beautiful baby which
she and her husband doted
on. If you are familiar with
the Muslim religion, to
which she had converted,
you might realise the impor-
tance of a son to carry on the
family name-traditions. This
little fellow, an offspring of
a woman who had taught
herself almost past the age
of having children was truly
beloved of them.
Nothing would have it but
that they should travel to
Jordan to show the
Times Established 1873
child to the grandmother and
the other relatives.
The father had not been
home in sixteen years. In the
period while he was away his
father and one brother had
been killed by guerrillas so
he was well aware that they
were going to a somewhat
unsettled region of the
world,
Within an hour of landing
from the airport they were
at the side of the grand-
mother.
Picture the feelings of this
lady teacher, raised in the
wilds of Oxford County, as
almost a hundred relatives
poured into the little house
with its dirt floors, and bak-
ed mud and stone walls. Out-
side men fired off pistols to
signal their happiness and
excitement about the arrival
of a new baby boy, •
In the back yard a young
goat was killed and
butchered immediately for
the feast which was to be
held that night because of
••••: •
Advocate Established 1881
TA.
the happy occasion.
The baby cried and so did
its mother.
She told me later that it
was hard to believe that she
was in the same world as
Canada existed in. The night
before they left, the power
went off and the air-raid
sirens sounded, People
thought that it was perhaps
an attack by the Israelis. As
it turned out it was just a
power failure. Whatever, it
was still hard to get used to
seeing tanks, armoured
cars, and men with machine
guns in the streets.
Sometimes it's hard for
us, as Canadians, to realise
how fortunate we are to live
in this little part of the
world.
• V..213,=7),T.z
Amalgamated 1924
Due to the fact there will he no issue
of this newspaper next week as the
staff get a well deserved I??) rest, this
is the final column not only of this year,
but the decade.
That has a rather ominous ring when
one starts talking in terms of the com-
pletion of another 10-year cycle and it
takes more than a little persistence to
ensure that your rheumatism doesn't
suffer a sudden jolt of pain, or that you
stop squinting at the words unfolding on
the paper in front of you.
Before embarking on this column,
the writer spent a few minutes looking
back through the file copy of the papers
printed in 1970 and it is simply amazing
to note that I appear to be one of the
few people pictured there who is not
looking any older today. Just proves
that clean living pays off every time!
There's little doubt that many area
residents would be amazed at how'
young they appear in those photos of 10
years ago, especially those whose pic-
tures were about five years younger
when they were dug out of our files for
reprinting.
There are people I forgot had hair,
and of course, a few who I forgot didn't
have any. No doubt the phenomena had
something to do with all this 'acid rain
they're talking about these days.
As the seventh decade of the century
winds down to a conclusion, there is
Isn't it strange, in modern times,
how families can grow apart and be lit-
tle more than well-acquainted
strangers when they do meet, with
nothing more in common, nothing more
to talk about, after the family gossip
has been exchanged, than their
physical problems: partial plates, bur-
sitis, high blood pressure, piles?
These are the very people who slept
two or three to a bed when they were
growing up, fought bitterly, had the
same parents, endured the same ups
and downs of the family fortune. Weird.
In most of Canada today, the old
family unit has pretty well dis-
integrated. Those of us who were
brought up with grandparents, legions
of aunts and uncles, too many sisters
(or brothers). and dozens of cousins,
are scattered into thousands of tiny,
one-cell units, with little or no connec-
tion with the the other old familiar
cells except for the occasional phone
call or Christmas card.
I find this a little sad, but it doesn't
really destroy me. The times they are
a-changin'. Our once-warm, once-
large, once-close families broke into
fragments and we just had to accept it,
as we did the pill, deodorant and ring-
around-the-collar commercials,
women's lib. and other great steps
forward by mankind.
That's what I thought. In fact, I
didn't mind it that much. Families can
be a pain in the arm, An older sister
who still thinks you are 12 years old
and need straightening out. A younger
brother who doesn't realize that under
those dull gray socks of yours is
another dull gray -- clay.
That's the way I thought. But once in
a while, for some reason, or no reason,
the whole fam damily comes roaring
out of the woodwork, all at once, and
your phone is so hot the wires are
melting, while Ma Bell sits back with a
satiated leer, almost postcoital, and
you take out a third mortgage on the
house to pay your telephone bill.
55 Years Ago
Mr. J. Pryde and son Tom
and Mr. Campbell Wares
who have been at Deer Lake,
Nfld. working on a large
waterpower development
returned home Monday.
Mrs. W. H. Jones, of
Regina and Mrs. Samuel
Schroeder of Saskatoon are
spending a couple of months
with relatives at Grand
Bend.
r,11r. R.G. Gillies, who has
been with the Canadian Bank
of Commerce at Hamilton
has been transferred to
Niagara Falls branch and
with Mrs. Gillies and son
have moved to that place.
30 Years Ago
The Centralia church choir
under the leadership of Mrs.
G,F. Penwarden presented
its cantata "The ('horns of
the Skies".
The Exeter Wolf Cub pack
held its annual Christmas
party on Wednesday evening
at, Trivitt Parish Hall. The
cub master is Eric
Sutherland and assistant Mel
Anderson.
A 19 year-old student pilot
confessed to low flying over
London and St, Thomas, thus
freeing the entire training
course at RCAF Centralia
who were confined to
barracks until the guilty one
was found.
The Kirkton postmaster,
G.H. Burgin states this has
been one of the heaviest
years for Christmas mail,
By ANDREA PEARCE
Exeter Public
School
One cold, snowy day up in
the North Pole, Santa and his
Christmas Eleves, were
busy making toys for all the
little children around the
world. There was this one
little elf, who was always
busy working. She was
Santas' favorite elf because
she did anything Santa
wanted her to do. One time,
Santa was sick, so he
couldn't work in the
workshop.
He asked the Christmas
Elf if she would be in charge
of the others, and she did,
Finally, December came
and the Christmas Elf began
to change. She started to get
mischievious. She was
bothering the other eleves by
becoming invisible, and then
she snuck up behind them
and pinched them.
It was soon the time when
Santa had to go south to
deliver the presents to the
children. The Christmas Elf
was thinking that she would
really like to go with Santa ,
so she sat down and decided
how she would get on the
sleigh,
On Christmas Eve, Santa
was loading the presents into
his sleigh while the sneaky,
little Christmas Elf was
peaking around the corner of
the workshop. Santa had to
get one more load before, he
could set off.
It was the Christmas Elfs'
last chance to get on the
sleigh, so she turned in-
visible and climbed into a
bag full of toys. She had
made sure that she got down
far enough so Santa wouldn't
spot her. Santa finally
climbed into the sleigh, He
then called to his reindeer to
start his journey, He
shouted, "Dasher, Dancer,
Prancer and Vixen, Comet,
Cupid Donner and Blitzen,"
Finally he shouted
"Rudolph". Suddenly, they
flew off into the air.
The Christmas Elf thought
that the ride was very rough,
but she began to fall asleep.
All of a sudden they stopped
with a bang. The Elf awoke
with a jerk. She realized that
this was their last house.
Suddenly she was lifted
into the air. Santa carried
the bag over to the chimney.
He then dropped her with a
crash. Now the Christmas
Elf was at the bottom of the
bag.
After Santa reached the
bottom of the chimney he
carried the bag over to the
beautiful Christmas tree. He
started to unload the
presents under the tree. As
he came to the bottom of the
bag what do you think he
saw!
He was very surprised and
also very angry to see the
Christmas Elf. He said he
would have to punish her for
coming. So they climbed up
the chimney and got back
into the sleigh. Then they
started on their way back to
the North Pole.
It was morning when they
reached the North Pole, so
all the eleves were there to fne-a Santa. They were also
very surprised to see the elf
with him, Santa had
remembered that he still had
to punish the elf.
20 Years Ago
Hensall council decided to
combine four village
positions when it replaces its
retiring clerk-treasurer P.L.
McNaughton next year.
Applications are being call-
ed for an official who will
serve as clerk, treasurer,
tax collector and assessor.
Garnet Hicks has been ap-
pointed Usborne Township's
representative on the South
Huron District High School
board, He replaces William
Ellerington,
A well-lighted Christmas
scene including boy
choristers, on the front steps
of the home of Mr, and Mrs,
Eugene Beaver. Andrew
Street, won first prize in the
home decoration contest
sponsored by town council
this week.
15 Years Ago
Doug Rickert, a teacher at
SHDHS was appointed
Emergency Measures Of-
ficer at Exeter this week.
Sandra Skinner, a grade
six student at. Usborne Cen-
tral School, won top honours
in a public speaking contest.
Her topic was "The
assassination of President
J.F. Kennedy,"
J.T. McCauley. field of-
ficer for the Ausable River
Conservation Authority
reported Wednesday it
would cost $10.000 to repair
the south dam wall at River-
view Park in Exeter.
He then took the Christmas
Elf into the workshop to see
the huge mess that the others
had left. Santa said that for
her punishment she would
have to clean the whole
workshop every year from
now on,
After that year, the
mischievious Elf stayed with
the other eleves because she
had learned her lesson.
My Christmas Tree
By EWAN McGR EGOR
Grade 5
J.A.D. McCurdy
My Christmas tree is
decorative
I put it up where I live.
My Christmas tree is
trimmed just right.
The lights on it make it so
bright,
My Christmas tree has
angel hair.
It has tinsel everywhere
My Christmas tree stands
up tall.
Right against the livingroom
wall.
My Christmas tree is very
nice
It is covered withlittle toy
mice
My Christmas tree holds
some treasures
It brings me lots and lots of
pleasures
My Christmas tree I like
the best
Because it's betterthan all
the rest.
Christmas in the
Country
By CATHERINE JOHNS
Grade 7
Usborne Central
It was Christmas evening
in the country
All the trees were there.
Inside the house was exciting
With children everywhere.
The birdy peeped out from
the clock to say it's time for
bed,
And all the children then
dashed off
SoonSanta would be there.
Everyone was off to bed
waiting for the sound,
Of the pitter patter of those
reindeer paws.
But the children fell asleep
until Christmas morn,
Suddenly the bird sang once
more and everyone arose.
It was Christmas in the
country,
For every girl and boy.
By TRACY GLAVIN
Grade 6
Mount Carmel School
The Saviour of the world was
born
On the first Christmas Day
In a stable cold and lonely
He was born to show the way
A star shone down on the
Lord
The angels sang for him that
night,
Wise men came with gifts of
gold,
To see the child that would
be their light.
Christmas Day
By DIANE VANUESTE
Grade 7
St. Patrick. Lucan
On December 25,
A little baby was born,
He was born in a stable with
lots of joy,
He was sent from heaven
above,
To bring joy and love,
His name was Jesus Christ,
He was sent to bring new life.
S
O
0 I
Just got over this, intermingled with
frequent calls to great-grandad, telling
him we'd be over any weekend now, a
call from a brother-in-law to ask if he
could sleep at our house on the way
back from a music festival, arriving at
3 a.m., a call from another brother-in-
law to ask if he could help about the
suicide, and a dejected call from
daughter to say her conference was
washed out and we wouldn't see them
until Christmas.
Prodigal son phones, now 100 miles
from home, collect, broke, unrepen-
tant. He's home now, driving his
mother crazy because he's a health-
food nut and won't eat any of the great
meals she is busting to prepare, Result,
she cooks one pork chop, for me with a
baked potato, some squash and bit of
broccoli with cheese, she eats the saw-
dust and stuff he eats, and I feel like a
pig.
Kid brother calls from James Bay
project to tell me he's alive, but has
had serious surgery and medication,
but now feeling great. He's two years
younger than I, and is going to retire
next July, with a fat pension. This goes
over big, as you can imagine.
Sixteen phone calls for prodigal son,
from friends who seem to have receiv-
ed news of his arrival by tribal drum.
He's never here when they call. they all
want him to call back. On our bill.
As though Ma Bell wants to rub it in,
a bell telephone crew complete with
huge trucks, backhoes and other vile
machinery, arrives at 8 aim every
morning, sounding like Revelations
will, and tears great holes in my lawn,
to plant a cable, cutting the roots of my
maples, so they'll all die.
It's nice to have family. But if I'd cut
the phone line 20 years ago, and put the
money into its stock, I'd be a major
shareholder in Bell of Canada today,
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Santa and the elf