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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-12-23, Page 6Page 6--Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, December 23, 1987 Christmas is a place of unusual THE BEAUTY OF CHRISTMAS by Dwayne Welke The world we live in is transformed dur- ing the Christmas season into a place of unusual beauty. Everywhere the lights of the season glow: some gaudy, some ar- tistic, all radiant in their special way. For a while, some of the harsh rhythm and depressing lyrics of today's music give way to the elegance and charm of carols, heard from our radios a on a streets of our town. ' A white Christmas is the ideal for us, with spotless snow sifted over the bare and browned earth, smoothing its roughness, and weighing on pine and spruce and cedar boughs. Merchants present their wares to Christmas shoppers in more artistic and better -composed displays than at other times of year. And who can resist the sight of tastefully wrapped packages under a resplendently ornamented tree? A special beauty comes over people, too, seen in the eager sparkle of children's bright eyes, and heard in the excited laughter and carefree glee of Christmas parties and family gatherings. Generosity provides a loveliness somewhat less adorned but no less ad- mirable. Think of the inimitable music of clinking coins in the 'Salvation Army ket- tles, or how magnificent a plain brown box, filled with simple necessities of life, appears to some who have special needs this year. The spirit of giving, prompted by God's greatest gift, is itself a beautiful thing, especially in the often unacknowledged and anonymous contribu- tions of money, gifts, time and service in order to help others. All this beauty is fitting in a season which commemorates the glory apd sublimity of the birth of Jesus Christ cen- turies ago. For that was an event itself charged with extraordinary beauty. Con- sider simply the loveliness of the newborn baby. In an era when so many unborn children are callously disposed of, we do well to reflect on the harmony, the sym- metry, the awesomeness of what God has made each thne an infant life is formed and brought forth into the world. When Jesus was born, the world explod- ed in a display of heavenly radiance. Shepherds near Bethlehem quaked at the terrifying splendor of the angel who an - '11 STHISEASON TO GIVE THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT OF ALL...YOURSELF Give cuttings of your favourite plant to someone who will talk them into growing up green and beautiful. Instead of giving your nephew advice, ask for some. Never miss a chance to let a child, lick a stirring spoon or baking bo�iil. Gift wrap a packet of faiiric scraps for your quilting grandmother. Appear at a nursing home with a .checkerboard and challenge someone to a game. When they beg for "one more story", say yes. Then tell them the greatest story ever told. Give a friend the secret recipe she's been angling for all year. Take the time to tell a friend how much you care. Give your kids the be 2fit of the doubt when they say it's time to get up Christmas morning and your alarm clock says it's only three. Give as many hugs as you can; they're warmer than sweaters. Make the first gilt you open t to one with the bedraggled bow, snarled Scotch tape and puckered -up paper. And watch your child's eyes. Promise a year's worth of lessons in something you're good at: bread baking, baseball pitching, guitar playing. Give someone who cooks all day the day off; front breakfast in bed to a candlelight dinner created by you. Set places at the table for those who might otherwise be alone at theirs. Use your wheels to transport those without to Christmas Eve Services. Visit the Humane Society and adopt an orphan animal. Use your mistletoe. beauty pounced the Saviour's birth. Then the sky was ffilecl with the most resplendent choir ever assembled, singing the most enchan- ting and glorious music ever heard: "Glory to God in tip highest! On earth peace to men on whom his favour rests!" What brilliance attracted the Magi as they followed the star to Bethlehem. And can we not see the special comeliness of worship as they kneel :before the infant Jesus and offer him their rich gifts? There is a spotless beauty also in the virginity of Mary, Jesus' mother, and an inner handsomeness in the attitude and conduct of Joseph toward them both. In an age which has so generally sullied the sacredness of God's gift of human sexuali- ty until it has lost any sense of its true beauty, we do well to ponder the devotion, the faithfulness, the simple purity of Mary and Joseph as they yielded themselves to God's higher purpose. Outshining all else that we can call beautiful in this season is the splendour of God's love displayed in that scene at Bethlehem. There in the stable where Jesus was born, we really have to look for beauty. In the plainness, the earthiness, the lowliness of it all, one magnificent truth is revealed: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life! May the sights that dazzle our eyes, the sounds that charm our ears, all of the thoughts and activities that strike us as beautiful in our Christmas celebration this year, be only reminders for each one of us of that greatest beauty of all: the perfect, unmarred and glorious love of God which reaches us in the coming of his Son, the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ. Ibr Grey -Bruce Health Council Mit. Marjorie George, Chairman, is pleased to announce that the Grey -Bruce District Health Council has accepted the recommendation of its Selection Commit- tee to engage Mr. Ted Gillespie and Mr. Harold Schroeder ., of Stevenson Kellogg Ernst & Whinney to assist Council in the completion of the Grey -Bruce Hospital System Role Study. This marks the final phase of a major planning initiative, fund- ed by the Ministry of Health and under- taken by the Council over the past two years. The final report of the project will provide a primary planning document for Council's use as it continues to provide ad- vice to the Minister of Health about the need for hospital services for the citizens of Grey and Bruce Counties. Council is looking forward to completion of this im- portant planning project by the end of March, 1988. The firm of Stevenson Kellogg Ernst & Whinney commenced work on the project November 16, 1987. Consultation with the district hospitals, both directly and through Council's Role Study Task Force, will be an essential component to completion of this project. The Hospital Role Study Task Force, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Ted Co - bean, is composed of representatives from all the hospitals within the district, as well as several Council members. The firm of Stevenson Kellogg Ernst & Whinney, which is an employee -owned Canadian firm, brings a full range of ex- pertise and in-depth experience in health care and social services consulting to the project. Mr. Gillespie and Mr. Schroeder have most recently completed role study projects with several south western On- tario hsopitals similar in size and situation to those found in the Grey -Bruce district.