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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton News Record, 1931-12-24, Page 7THURS. DEC. 24, 1931 TIIE CLINTON NEWS -RECORD Christmas Messages From the Clergymen of Clint and nye -. �`�+>F�1'�'�i"'�'"�.eat`.`,�e���.�,~z4+'.,TM•.:?';.."'it�.�1. • The Clergymen of the Several Churches 'inCommunities Clinton and Surrounding have Very Kindly C Ilowing Cheering, and Inspiring Messages for this, Our Christmas Eve Issue. ofltrihuked the following O A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE Bev. W. A, Breluner, 13rucefield. Christmas is the . most -faithfuls' observed of all our holy days, an •surety it is right that it should b so, for 11055 at not mark the birthd of the world's Redeemer? ` The. Star in the East still points u to the manger in the cattle shed i Bethlehem. Sir Edward Burne-Jone was asked bya young " irl wh Y g, g "Star '• -watched him painting the f Eethlehem whether he be 1' toyed th story to be true. He replied, "It i too beautiful not to be true." -Well, there wascertainly no beaut about His birthplace. It was but rude shed built -of rough stones. I t. was not built for human habitation a The beauty of the story .lies not, wy�,"'� w ?� /r.Zl7, '—�����therefore in outward surr ourdingt we must look for it elsewhere. . "LET US NOW 'GO EVEN `ONTO 'when we are blind of souk', and heart. of days of gloom and misery,.. when would occur, ' Selfishness would die" The-beautyv was in the love than The Christ gave, heed because He here and there a solitary spirit;. a- of starvation, avarice would be hung sent Rini to the manger, .the love of saw and heard. And the Christmas. gainst hope, believing in hope; strain- higher than Hainan, foolish pride the- Father fora lost world. The tide is made significant only in this ed forward to see the light, desiring woty',d go, down in :crushing defeat; beauty was in the character of Him way. 1L who sees and hears 'only to see the things which ye see and senseless strife and silly biekerings who began Iii earthly life among not seeing them, the prophet cried would shame each . other to death. igen that day. The beauty was in th "`The .Desire of all Nations shall Racial animosities would be drown- fact that everything was to touch Come." We, looking back to the ed in a sea. of Brotherhood, "Peace on • was to be lifted'to. a place: of iitfin l ntger Throne of Bethlehem, claim Earth" would become a glorious real- itely greater value because He came', with the full assurance of faith, "T1i ity. ( into contact with it, , • Desire of all Nations has Come." PAGE 3'• paroling and pardoning criminals: is stilt . ojscrvec1 K Truly, it is a time when "Peace on y, earth;, Good Will to Men" conies. d nearest to realization, It we could e only master the trick of keeping this. ay goodwill business going all through the year, what a paradise this old s battle: field of a world would . soon n become! But until the same beauti- ful unity andr s r y accord with which. the o human family enters into the spirit o • of Christmas, affects other phases of e human thought and endeavour, s Christmas unfortunately will contin- ue, to come but once a year, , Y However, let us be thankful that a all mankind: can unite as often as t once -a year, in the serene and peace- ful atmosphere of Bethlehem. There we can all rejoice in union with the Divine child if net with one another. The real and tangible joining of God's divinity to our humanity, is a priceless dignity that the whole hu- inan fancily and each one shares, re; gardless of man -macre (barriers. The Incarnation is a guarantee to one and ai01 of immortality. It heretofore we were inclined, to doubt that man was made to the: image and likeness of God, those doubts are forever dispel- led when we come face . to face with God there in His manger -cradle made to the image and likeness of man. No one . can resist a little baby (that is one redeeming feature of preserve human nature) and so the Divine Infant seems to win the hearts of the big family that He conies to join on Christmas Day. And how those tiny, features register sweet baby glee as one a year the family permits Him to have His own way: For it is the Christ -child unfluence that inspires noble -unselfish thoughts at this time and. gives to everything connected with the day on which wo Celebrate His coming, an atmosphere .of joyful peace and good will. BETHLEHEM .Rev. F. G. Farrili The said carries to us now, It is his own, fails in ower to give fruit; p• a call to lift our eyes and see the to' his own. And yislbn and Call means Res- ponse. No one becomes so poor of soul as he who heart but heeds not. Love is_ the fundamental basic prin- ciple of the Christmastide. But love must find expression—that is what made the Christmas Spirit. A world loved by 'God is sure to have the Christmastide.. He loved; 'therefore, He gave. And may we he so far moved that'we shall give response to the Christinas Spirit. star. 'poo long have our interests been self-centred and earthly, The star has too little significance, be cause, concerned with the things that are seen and temporal,. we have- had no time to see the Vision of the things that are Eeternal. The Magi taw the star—and they followed it, even unto Bethlehem. Throughout the centuries that star has guided men from beyond the desert to the city whose maker and builder is God. The christil'n hope has been the lamp in thedesert that led humanity all the ivay from -the barbarity of a ltoreatt civilization until now. Yea there has been an advance; slow at times 'hut ever forward. We have followed the star -but at times 'too far off. Let vs now go even unto Bethlehem.. The Christmas Message 'Means that a King has been born in Bethlehem and the star will guide hien to Hint. The Star. is God's guiding hand to beckon his people to a n'ew era already • we may catch glimpses of the dawn. It wily lead us to Bethlehem where we may lay our hearts and our treasures at His feet. It will lead us to a conse- crated on'istment for Christ and His *work. It will lead to the Cross- -the foundation of a New World. The 'Wise lvlen followed the Star when thea, saw it, from far away in the East. "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem aria see this thing whir'* has conte to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." 'CHRISTMAS -- r,ESTIVAL OP MACE Rev. T. H. Paull, Bayfield. Only the true,_ devout, sincere Christian can really know what Christmas is and nieans. Only the lover of Christ can have any deep 'ap- preciation of this great day and un- derstand it's depth of meaning and teething. To countless thousands, the ilay'is just one of the year's holt- days, oltdays, to be devoted to. feasting and merriment and the giving and re- ceiving of presents. If it is simply that'to us and nothing more, i1 is of Tittle value and Wright just as well be passed over unnoticed. But if it is first of alI a Holy Day and then a holiday to us; if it is first of sill the day of the Birth of lefts Christ and then the day of 'joyful greeting and happy exchange of gifts, well, that makes all the difference in the world. Thetis the defference between 'Chris- tian and non-Christian, between a Christian festival and a worldlya, Nast. 'If the Prince of Peace is in our 'homes and hearts that day of His Nativity, happy shall we be. The message of that Prince of Peace le one of peace --peace in our hearts, peace in the Iives of men, peace a- mong nations, peace on earth and good -will. God has given his peace ti and good -will to men, for they came with Christ when Ile was born into this world, It is only man who des - trays the peace and lacks the good- •will. May it be our sincere prayer and 'hope this Christmas that more of the peace of God may dwell in our hearts -an reign in our lives; and that we -may manifest it to our fellow mon, as God would have us do. THE SIGNIFICANCE OP CHRISTMAS Rev. E. A. Pointer, Varna ''Ihe significance of the. Christmas- tide should be that it stirs us into ,deep Response of mind and.'heart. Christmas can only ,be Christmas When -ve find'•its meaning in teems of heart. This season we thaw Us the season of gifts, but gifts are merely gifts unless there are exorres. Bions of mind and heart,• For Christmas to be truly signifi- cant, there must bo something of vision. Christmas may be filled too much with ourselves. 'The peace of the angels' song is not selfishly per- sonal. It is humanity -wide. But if -we lack this view of the wideness of the Christmas Spirit, then this seaw 6011 W be only one of holiday ex- pression, not a holy -day season...' And if wehave the Vision of the true Christmas-. spirit, there will come something' of the Christmas call. When we see, we hear, No call Comes.; A CHRISTMAS THOUGHT Rev. Dr. C, E. Dougall, C,inteh Seine witty person one said: "There are three kinds of givers— the flint, the sponge, and the honey- comb.", oneycomb.", To get anything out of flint you must hammer it, and then yon only get chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you most squeeze it, and the more you squeeze the mare you will get. But the honeycomb just overflows with Re own sweetness. Some people are stingy and hard; they give nothing; away if they can help it. Others are; good nature$, they yield to pressure,i and the more the i •are pressed, the; more they will give. A few .delight' in giving, without being asked at all; and of these the Bible says: "The, Lord Loveth a Cheerful Giver". Some time ago a 'good woman lams+ ented, "We shall have no Christiiiasi this year!' Her idea of Christmas; was that 'because_she coliY'd not send; gifts ton her friends, as in forme*l years,.it would not be Christmas' to, her. Let us not lose sight of the! fact that only the 'less vtilualile• things cost money, "The best things are free. God gives us life, health. sunshine, air and water, And be- cause He has made us •in His own linage we may •also 'give freely. 'Love is not for sale on bargain days, Sym- pathy is not .priced 'in the sSnree. Courage is never tied up in r par- cel, Tenderness cannot 'be weio•hed, nor Good Cheer measured. Yet these are the gifts that mean most nn -varus making a Happy Christmas f^v our friends and all'in need, thitngs which no amount of wealth can buy, but which all of us may give without stint, not only at Christmas, but ale' through the -year, CHRISTMAS, 1931 Rev. 11. W. Herbert, Hol nesville. Again it'is 'Christmas time, and a- gain is retold the story of Christ's conrsing to the world, What sloes it mean'? 'PVihat should it mean to the world today? In Matthew, we read, "and i;bey •shall call His name Em.- tnanue%, which being interpreted is, "God with us." For ,a few brief -years He lived gloriously among us and then /departed to His glory. Now He seeks to function in the world that He •so:1uved through the Church which is His body. , Perhaps it not wise to speak superlative terns, but it does appear as if . the Christian Church never confronted soh ' an opportunity to make its influence felt as at the pre- sent time. The world. todday is aft clay in`'the hands of the potter. 'Wilt the Church be the willing 'hands of the Divine 'Potter to accomplish His desire? Christ and Christ alone can ,bring order oat of the present world confusion.' • Is the church sufficiently a snit to co-ordinate effectively In the accomplishment of this stupendous task?- tet 'each find his own answer. This is the glory of the Christmas time, that itbrings us all together in beautiful forgetfulness.. of differ- ences, as we join shepherds, anagi and angels in worship of the Christ child. Let the churtii throughout the coming year remain in this atti- tude of worship, then when 1032 comes to a close it will be found that it has indeed been the willing hands of its Divine Master, and the world will be moulded into something more closely resembling the Kingdom of God on earth than it now is. :Shall we do this for His sake? • CHRISTMAAS; 1931. Rev. (Major} K, IIleGoun, Clinton Out of the dins'past t , out o f the e deep Our eyes have seen God's Salvation To let the Great Guest into our ; His inanger-cradle glowed with a the light of them that sat in dark- hearts but once a year is not e- light that never was On sea or land. ness and the shadow of death, Him nough. Give Him the key, enjoy His He hae'.lowed childhood because Ho who shall guide our feet into the way presence. "I will come and sup with came as a little child. The 'Carpenter of peace. ' thee and thou with me," said Jesus. of Nazareth Hallowed the humble Let the blessed Saviour into your shop in which He worked. He hal- We look at world conditions to -day life and the spirit of Christmas will lowed the tools Ile used, and so He and we realize that they are very abide forever. has hallowed every shop and every r largely owing to antithesis of the way, tool with which men work to -day. He of peace—war-sand the predominant walked the weary roads of Palestine Ory corning from the hearts of men and so the ways men walk have never and women is for peace. The Christ. been the starve again« mss message from the Manger -He was crowded out of the inn at Throne to the world today is, as it Bethlehem and He is being crowded has been down through the ages, out of the lives 'of men todday. How "Peace on the Earth," But the thick .and fast come the things that message alone will not bring pease. The Christmas time is ,becoming hid for our devotion, how keen. the There must be the active response loved the world over and the reason .competition is. All sorts of thoughts from the hearts of "men and women for this is. plain, To Christians tho come knocking to get in: thoughts of of Goodwill" Jesus is the ?Ante of birth of Christ is a time of joy. fame and riches, social! position and Pease, and Jesus in the heart of sten True, to thein Christ's coming to personal advantage; thoughts which alone can bring peace. to the days earth as a little child has not the are not wholly bad, but we admit of (Tia Flesh, there was "no room «" depth of meaning and fulness of then: in such numbers thatrthey leave 'i%?' :Ts .R'•'.c'"•'-Yi.40,.- •• s.I�s'. ,"4e.-Pk^Nil- ,•':' '>v '> ' ! w"~.4'4. g- -,moi!. CHRISTMAS TIME LOVED THE •WORLD OVER Rev, J. C. Forster, Londesboro, for Jesus in the hearts•of 'arm. At this joyous season :though aniany hearts are heavy with the material cares of life, Sante room in your heart for Jesus. M4y this be my Christmas messagb to you. Take Je- sus,into your life, make 'Him mani- fest in your life, and yon will be malting your contributive, along ttvith others, the sum total e£ which will be 'lasting peace in the world, 'May your Christmas be not «wily nterey,. but happy. LRT CHRIST REIGN EVERY Capt. Jas. A. Welder, Clinton, Let it be granted freely that Christmas is misused, that it is often a season of excesses and extremes. Even so, who Of us would do away with .Christmas, despite all the ex- cesses of the holiday season and the hardship it works on many? Christmas is a season of prophetic idealism arid a rebuke to selfish liv- ing. The approach . of our Lard's 'birth turns our thoughts from self to others, and also exalts the home and glorifies family life, It helps to make strong the ties of kinship. Christ- mas away from home is not much of a Christmas at ale. •• Tho real Christmas spirit is the taking of Jesus' teachings serious- ly, by the protesting against se, frailness, by the exaltation of family life, by the spirit of good will toward men. Such is 'the essence of Christ- mas. And why not this spirit everyday? It is not the purpose of the Almighty that God should 'beremembered one day in the week .and forgotten six ;days, or' that •hp Iteeping His -com- mandments on Sunday, one night ig- nore them on 1Vionday. If the true spirit ;of Christina were with iia every' tloi', 0 follower., of Christ, some revolutionary events 41, 4T�,i '.�s'St`ai�•�r'ST�.!'� -4� �ri`��C�'t�'e M���.+"+KSi Sti4"�'�a teaching as have His dying and rlug is from. :the .dead, ibut 10 stands in separably connected with these grey ,events by being tele 'beginnings 's' us of that great Iife whi is the 'gim"ious hope of all! who .hay •come to :know Trim. !Calvary -remind us of fo`,rgiveness 'through Chest' b .death, the empty tomand aseensio 'speak of the promise of a risen 'lif now and forever 'through His rising And Betliidhem speaks of Gotl brei! ing through from the unseen -wore to ours to begin _ Itis gtreat i'edeeming work for Hien. The beginning of any great 'work ahvays fills us with expectation and interest. And supremely the birth of the •Gad -man grips the world's at- tention. It seems se natural �to'breala out in song, "toy to the World the Loral is Come," and "'It came upon the Midnight Cleat'" - no room for ' any bf those things • which are of the highest value. What, therefore, we .need to do is a- •to' face this stern alternative and de - eh Mae where the highest value really e lies. If we honestly do this we will s Lind that no ave can compare with '! Jesus 'in His moral and spiritual n 'beauty -and power. SANTA CLAUS—REALITY OR MYTH? (Rev. D. E. Foster, Clinton Christmas has coins again., This is Santa Claus night - and children everywhere are happy, waiting and listening for the jingle of reindeer bells. Then along comes some wise fool and tells the boy, "There is no Santa Cltaus, you're too c''.d now fol; that." And for another child the glow and glamour and mystery of Christmas is gone forever. Parents must fate that question "Mother (or Father) is there really a Santa Claus?" How shel the par- ents .answer? By all means tela the truth, and so the answer must be "There is!"—that is the • absolute truth for those who have eyes that see. The little, fat, jolly -faced white -whiskered, red -coated, red -sap- ped man, driving a reindeer teem may not be fact. The sled and the reindeer and the chimney and all such are just decorations —.Santa Claus himself is the reality. We must visualize truth. We can under- stand nbstractipn only as we pu't them in concrete forst. We Cannot understand love, even except as we see it in the form of a another, for instance. God is a spirit --but we cannot think of Him apart from sonic concrete body. That was why Christ came—to embody or incarnate God. Santa Claus, too, is a spirit—th spirit of Christmas, the spirit o Christ abroad in the word,—the spin it of unselfish giving. One thing w must never forget in aur blind mat erialisn, that a spirit is real—mor real than anything material. W know it is real because .we can se proofs thereof.. Christmas is a spin it and, when the "Christ spirit gets in to a man his whole life is changed— his outlook on the world and on al things is different. There is nota ng more real, there is nothin mightier than spirit. When th1 Christmas spirit enters people the, give gilts. We visualize that spiri n Santa -Claus. He represents the eathiess power of love. Is love cal ? No one ever saw love. No one ever -heard love, nor touched it. Yet it is the mightiest and most en- during reality in the world to -day, as it speaks and acts through meg and women who have opened there hearts that it might enter. No one has ever seen Santa Claus, no one ever heard him speak—closed-doors and barred windows. cannot keep hila 'aut. But that does not prove his unres)ity. Many hearts open to him at this Christmas season and as a'result, trees are laden with gifts and stockings are filled with, good things. Therefore let us relinquish all t' else, if moori be, and choose Him as it our lorienil, our .Gniido and our Re- '•deesner, 1 d Even to those who have never consciously related themselves to Christ, the Christmas time is one of thoughtfulness an d tender 'Inman feelings. God has come tosineet them oven though they hove not risen up to receive Iiia. But even -now it is their privileege and hoPe to do so still and they intend to do -so before it too late. The message of the angels has thrilled them, too, with its sweet- ness and love. Also they are secret- ly glad that seine good sten of our rase travelled 'far to welcome Him and offer Him gifts. And the fact that the Divine One has touched. Motherhood and childhood and made theni holy is of all; things the loveli- est, • Our rushing feet et the, Christmas time are more restful as•we' slow down a i?ittle to remember in our busy lives that giving is nobler ,than getting, that it is a fine thing to pass on our joys to others, out of whose :',door -joy may,. have for this cause and that taken livings and fled,. g e -If Christmas 'have this meaning for us we will celebrate the day with hearts filled with a true joy and a holy gladness. If,: however, it does net have this meaning, it will be but another holiday, and we shall have 'Hissed its message. PEACE AND GOOD -WILL Maurice M. Sullivan, -Clinton I heard the bells on Christmas Day, Their old famii iar carols play; -' And wild and sweet, The woods repeat, .01 "Peace on Earth, Good -Will to men." The inspiration which impeller! Longfellow to 'pen the above lines, so redolent of the Christmas- spirit, coshes more or less to all of us at this time. Wie are not all gifted. with poetic genius, it is true, but the lovely things that suggest themsel- ves to our minds and hearts through the yearly reeurrng customs, so anc- ient and so intimately associated in aur minds, with the birth of Christ find expression in other ways than lyric. Everyone feels benevolent at Christmas time. The spirit of toles - ante, of giving and, forgiving is nev- er more pronounced. There is a wholesale bestowing of gifts, a uni- versesl concern for the poor and un- fortunate, the traditional practice of "How old is Santa Claus?'" As old as Eternity, He will never die, As long as there is a kind and .Ioving Heavenly Father there will be a Santa Claus. Witten you're boy or girl reaches an age of understanding, Thy all means explain, but lief no man tell his child "There le na Santa Clans." t 'CHRISTMAS STORY Rev. R. M. Gale, Hayfield. MY message to you is In the form: of a Christmas iStory, • A number of young people were. gathered together at the Christmas Ti anen adoY# of - e he number said to a young girl present, "Tell us the best Christmas Story you know."— 1'e ,She.; then related a'stary which had: made a deep impression ,on her life„ When a little girl, It was told by her• minister and she had' never forgot- ten it. 10 is; a story: of a little boy who didn't want the Angel to go a- way and didn't want the Candle to go out, "Christmas Day for :this seven yea,,' old . boyhad e d benCo1 •' g ons with new adventures. It was ,evening, and. though he was, but seven he had been permitted to :remain up until nine - o'clock. The Christmas Tree was - lighted with olil fashioned : candles from top to bottom. Thin streaks of� silver and golden tinsel flashed in. the candle'',ight. Beneath the tree were stacked a great number of pre- sents. The little bey sat in his fath- er's Iap watching the tree until he, felt: asleep. As he slept he dreamed a dream: He dreamed that the Christmas An, - gel came floating softly into the room. That Angel, beginning at the• very bottom of the Tree, began, tes snuff the candles out, one by ones until she came to the very top of the tree where the last candle flickered. The last eandi?e, she did not snuff out, but carefully guarding the light;s flew down to the little' boy and hand- ed that candle to him saying: "Bob- bie, this is the Christmas candle of joy, and love, and laughter, Take it. Never let it go out ail the year- long, , In his dream he moved restlessly in his daddy's lap. Ilis daddy said to himself: "The;little rascal is sleepy" I'll just take him to bed. It ha:' been a tiring day for him." His mother said, "Ali right put hint. to bed. You never'do it all the rest of the year. It is your turn an - Christmas night. I wilt come and kiss him good night when you have tucked him in." The father awkwardly carried young Bob to bed, undressed him, carefully tucked him in, and kissed his good night. He was about to lift his huge forme from the heti when Bobbie reached out his armut quickly, and put them around his father's neck. Ile then pulled him down again and said: "Daddy, please: Don't let the Christmas Angel go as way, and don't let the candle go out"' The father wondered what it was ail eobut, that strange talk, for he did not know of the dream the little lad had dreamed as he sat on his daddy'y knee," Then the young girt who told the• story said, "I guess the Christmas Candle will never go out, or the An- gel go away es long as we have such Christmas Memories, will it Dad," "A Merry Christmas to nil." Self -Depreciation By EngIisiuneii; Deplored•. By Lord Chelmsford Lord Chelmsford, in presenting prizes at Reading school recently, dep+"eciated the habit of self -depress elation on the part of Englishmen; and their suggesting that the proper way to do things was to "muddle through," which, he thought, a ems ins habit. Apart from its foolish- ness, it did the British people a great deal of damage outside, as he had found by his contact with for- eigners when they saw articles In the press running down 'capacity to do this or that. "As a matter of fact," hes aid, "it is not true. We do not really think poorly of ourselves. We have really a good conceit of our-• solves and a'?ways have had, whether• as a nation or as individuals, If it comes to a question of 'muddling through' I believe there is a good deal behind it, but it is not mud- dling. We are skeptical and distrust, ful of theoretical principles and ori logic, preferring to proceed --quite scientifically--lby the process of trial and error, . and in that way wo reach the end, whether as a nation or individuals, whish we desire." CHRISTMAS ONCE ILLEGAL Without doubt Christmas is the most popular festival of the year. It is the time when, above all • others, the family circle makes an extra -spe- cial effort to complete itself. Itis a time of peace and goodwill. Yet there is actually a period in our own, history when the strong arm of the law intervened to put, down What was described as "a sup- erstitious festival," and all Christmas festivities were forbidden. The holy and mistletoe were ordered to be des- troyed,'root and branch, as "plants of the Evil One," It was Oliver Cromwell—a reform- er in many ways -who tried to sup- press the observance of Christmas ordering. that the "hurtful custom," as he styled it should be ignored in - the principal towns. In order to at- tain this. end he enacted that all markets should be held on December 2eth. But the Protector sould net enforce the abandonment of such a, time-honored and popular customs and his command washonored mare in the breach than the observance. Once, when BIuff Ring Hal lay ;very 11, in December, and the nation was anxious about his recavery, by common consent it was decided to have a silent Christmas, without •belle arols, or merry -makings.