{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14572/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14572","id":"gutenberg_14572","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14572","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christmas","Christmas stories"],"text":"THE\n\nSPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS\n\nBY\n\nHENRY VAN DYKE\n\n\n[Illustration: (Frontispiece)]\n\n\nNEW YORK\n\nCHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS\n\n1911\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n_Copyright, 1905, by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\n_Published, October, 1905_\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n  A DREAM-STORY\n\n    THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL 3\n\n  A LITTLE ESSAY\n\n    CHRISTMAS-GIVING AND CHRISTMAS-LIVING 33\n\n  A SHORT CHRISTMAS SERMON\n\n    KEEPING CHRISTMAS 45\n\n  TWO CHRISTMAS PRAYERS\n\n    A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR THE HOME 51\n\n    A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR LONELY FOLKS 56\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nA DREAM-STORY\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHRISTMAS ANGEL\n\n\nIt was the hour of rest in the Country Beyond the Stars. All the\nsilver bells that swing with the turning of the great ring of light\nwhich lies around that land were softly chiming; and the sound of\ntheir commotion went down like dew upon the golden ways of the city,\nand the long alleys of blossoming trees, and the meadows of asphodel,\nand the curving shores of the River of Life.\n\nAt the hearing of that chime, all the angels who had been working\nturned to play, and all who had been playing gave themselves joyfully\nto work. Those who had been singing, and making melody on different\ninstruments, fell silent and began to listen. Those who had been\nwalking alone in meditation met together in companies to talk. And\nthose who had been far away on errands to the Earth and other planets\ncame homeward like a flight of swallows to the high cliff when the day\nis over.\n\nIt was not that they needed to be restored from weariness, for the\ninhabitants of that country never say, \"I am tired.\" But there, as\nhere, the law of change is the secret of happiness, and the joy that\nnever ends is woven of mingled strands of labour and repose, society\nand solitude, music and silence. Sleep comes to them not as it does to\nus, with a darkening of the vision and a folding of the wings of the\nspirit, but with an opening of the eyes to deeper and fuller light,\nand with an effortless outgoing of the soul upon broader currents\nof life, as the sun-loving bird poises and circles upward, without a\nwing-beat, on the upholding air.\n\nIt was in one of the quiet corners of the green valley called\nPeacefield, where the little brook of Brighthopes runs smoothly down\nto join the River of Life, that I saw a company of angels, returned\nfrom various labours on Earth, sitting in friendly converse on the\nhill-side, where cyclamens and arbutus and violets and fringed orchids\nand pale lady's-tresses, and all the sweet-smelling flowers which are\nseparated in the lower world by the seasons, were thrown together in\na harmony of fragrance. There were three of the company who seemed\nto be leaders, distinguished not only by more radiant and powerful\nlooks, but by a tone of authority in their speech and by the willing\nattention with which the others listened to them, as they talked\nof their earthly tasks, of the tangles and troubles, the wars and\nmiseries that they had seen among men, and of the best way to get rid\nof them and bring sorrow to an end.\n\n\"The Earth is full of oppression and unrighteousness,\" said the\ntallest and most powerful of the angels. His voice was deep and\nstrong, and by his shining armour and the long two-handed sword\nhanging over his shoulder I knew that he was the archangel Michael,\nthe mightiest one among the warriors of the King, and the executor\nof the divine judgments upon the unjust. \"The Earth is tormented with\ninjustice,\" he cried, \"and the great misery that I have seen among\nmen is that the evil hand is often stronger than the good hand and can\nbeat it down.\n\n\"The arm of the cruel is heavier than the arm of the kind. The unjust\nget the better of the just and tread on them. I have seen tyrant kings\ncrush their helpless folk. I have seen the fields of the innocent\ntrampled into bloody ruin by the feet of conquering armies. I have\nseen the wicked nation overcome the peoples that loved liberty, and\ntake away their treasure by force of arms. I have seen poverty mocked\nby arrogant wealth, and purity deflowered by brute violence, and\ngentleness and fair-dealing bruised in the winepress of iniquity and\npride.\n\n\"There is no cure for this evil, but by the giving of greater force to\nthe good hand. The righteous cause must be strengthened with might to\nresist the wicked, to defend the helpless, to punish all cruelty and\nunfairness, to uphold the right everywhere, and to enforce justice\nwith unconquerable arms. Oh, that the host of Heaven might be called,\narrayed, and sent to mingle in the wars of men, to make the good\nvictorious, to destroy all evil, and to make the will of the King\nprevail!\n\n\"We would shake down the thrones of tyrants, and loose the bands of\nthe oppressed. We would hold the cruel and violent with the bit of\nfear, and drive the greedy and fierce-minded men with the whip of\nterror. We would stand guard, with weapons drawn, about the innocent,\nthe gentle, the kind, and keep the peace of God with the sword of the\nangels!\"\n\nAs he spoke, his hands were lifted to the hilt of his long blade, and\nhe raised it above him, straight and shining, throwing sparkles of\nlight around it, like the spray from the sharp prow of a moving ship.\nBright flames of heavenly ardour leaped in the eyes of the listening\nangels; a martial air passed over their faces as if they longed for\nthe call to war.\n\nBut no silver trumpet blared from the battlements of the City of God;\nno crimson flag was unfurled on those high, secret walls; no thrilling\ndrum-beat echoed over the smooth meadow. Only the sound of the brook\nof Brighthopes was heard tinkling and murmuring among the roots of the\ngrasses and flowers; and far off a cadence of song drifted down from\nthe inner courts of the Palace of the King.\n\nThen another angel began to speak, and made answer to Michael. He,\ntoo, was tall and wore the look of power. But it was power of the\nmind rather than of the hand. His face was clear and glistening, and\nhis eyes were lit with a steady flame which neither leaped nor fell.\nOf flame also were his garments, which clung about him as the fire\nenwraps a torch burning where there is no wind; and his great wings,\nspiring to a point far above his head, were like a living lamp before\nthe altar of the Most High. By this sign I knew that it was the\narchangel Uriel, the spirit of the Sun, clearest in vision, deepest\nin wisdom of all the spirits that surround the throne.\n\n\"I hold not the same thought,\" said he, \"as the great archangel\nMichael; nor, though I desire the same end which he desires, would I\nseek it by the same way. For I know how often power has been given to\nthe good, and how often it has been turned aside and used for evil.\nI know that the host of Heaven, and the very stars in their courses,\nhave fought on the side of a favoured nation; yet pride has followed\ntriumph and oppression has been the first-born child of victory.\nI know that the deliverers of the people have become tyrants over\nthose whom they have set free, and the fighters for liberty have been\nchanged into the soldiers of fortune. Power corrupts itself, and might\ncannot save.\n\n\"Does not the Prince Michael remember how the angel of the Lord led\nthe armies of Israel, and gave them the battle against every foe,\nexcept the enemy within the camp? And how they robbed and crushed\nthe peoples against whom they had fought for freedom? And how the\nwickedness of the tribes of Canaan survived their conquest and\novercame their conquerors, so that the children of Israel learned to\nworship the idols of their enemies, Moloch, and Baal, and Ashtoreth?\n\n\"Power corrupts itself, and might cannot save. Was not Persia the\ndestroyer of Babylon, and did not the tyranny of Persia cry aloud for\ndestruction? Did not Rome break the yoke of the East, and does not the\nyoke of Rome lie heavy on the shoulders of the world? Listen!\"\n\nThere was silence for a moment on the slopes of Peacefield, and then\nover the encircling hills a cool wind brought the sound of chains\nclanking in prisons and galleys, the sighing of millions of slaves,\nthe weeping of wretched women and children, the blows of hammers\nnailing men to their crosses. Then the sound passed by with the wind,\nand Uriel spoke again:\n\n\"Power corrupts itself, and might cannot save. The Earth is full of\nignorant strife, and for this evil there is no cure but by the giving\nof greater knowledge. It is because men do not understand evil that\nthey yield themselves to its power. Wickedness is folly in action, and\ninjustice is the error of the blind. It is because men are ignorant\nthat they destroy one another, and at last themselves.\n\n\"If there were more light in the world there would be no sorrow. If\nthe great King who knows all things would enlighten the world with\nwisdom--wisdom to understand his law and his ways, to read the secrets\nof the earth and the stars, to discern the workings of the heart of\nman and the things that make for joy and peace--if he would but send\nus, his messengers, as a flame of fire to shine upon those who sit in\ndarkness, how gladly would we go to bring in the new day!\n\n\"We would speak the word of warning and counsel to the erring, and\ntell knowledge to the perplexed. We would guide the ignorant in the\npaths of prudence, and the young would sit at our feet and hear\nus gladly in the school of life. Then folly would fade away as the\nmorning vapour, and the sun of wisdom would shine on all men, and the\npeace of God would come with the counsel of the angels.\"\n\nA murmur of pleasure followed the words of Uriel, and eager looks\nflashed around the circle of the messengers of light as they heard the\npraise of wisdom fitly spoken. But there was one among them on whose\nface a shadow of doubt rested, and though he smiled, it was as if he\nremembered something that the others had forgotten. He turned to an\nangel near him.\n\n\"Who was it,\" said he, \"to whom you were sent with counsel long ago?\nWas it not Balaam the son of Beor, as he was riding to meet the\nKing of Moab? And did not even the dumb beast profit more by your\ninstruction than the man who rode him? And who was it,\" he continued,\nturning to Uriel, \"that was called the wisest of all men, having\nsearched out and understood the many inventions that are found under\nthe sun? Was not Solomon, prince of fools and philosophers, unable\nby much learning to escape weariness of the flesh and despair of\nthe spirit? Knowledge also is vanity and vexation. This I know well,\nbecause I have dwelt among men and held converse with them since the\nday when I was sent to instruct the first man in Eden.\"\n\nThen I looked more closely at him who was speaking and recognised\nthe beauty of the archangel Raphael, as it was pictured long ago:\n\n  \"A seraph winged; six wings he wore to shade\n  His lineaments divine; the pair that clad\n  Each shoulder broad came mantling o'er his breast,\n  With regal ornament; the middle pair\n  Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round\n  Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold\n  And colours dipped in Heav'n; the third his feet\n  Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail,\n  Sky-tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood\n  And shook his plumes, that Heavenly fragrance filled\n  The circuit wide.\"\n\n\"Too well I know,\" he spoke on, while the smile on his face deepened\ninto a look of pity and tenderness and desire, \"too well I know that\npower corrupts itself and that knowledge cannot save. There is no cure\nfor the evil that is in the world but by the giving of more love to\nmen. The laws that are ordained for earth are strange and unequal,\nand the ways where men must walk are full of pitfalls and dangers.\nPestilence creeps along the ground and flows in the rivers; whirlwind\nand tempest shake the habitations of men and drive their ships to\ndestruction; fire breaks forth from the mountains and the foundations\nof the world tremble. Frail is the flesh of man, and many are his\npains and troubles. His children can never find peace until they learn\nto love one another and to help one another.\n\n\"Wickedness is begotten by disease and misery. Violence comes from\npoverty and hunger. The cruelty of oppression is when the strong tread\nthe weak under their feet; the bitterness of pride is when the wise\nand learned despise the simple; the crown of folly is when the rich\nthink they are gods, and the poor think that God is not.\n\n\"Hatred and envy and contempt are the curse of life. And for these\nthere is no remedy save love--the will to give and to bless--the will\nof the King himself, who gives to all and is loving unto every man.\nBut how shall the hearts of men be won to this will? How shall it\nenter into them and possess them? Even the gods that men fashion for\nthemselves are cruel and proud and false and unjust. How shall the\nmiracle be wrought in human nature to reveal the meaning of humanity?\nHow shall men be made like God?\"\n\nAt this question a deep hush fell around the circle, and every\nlistener was still, even as the rustling leaves hang motionless when\nthe light breeze falls away in the hour of sunset. Then through the\nsilence, like the song of a far-away thrush from its hermitage in the\nforest, a voice came ringing: \"I know it, I know it, I know it.\"\n\nClear and sweet--clear as a ray of light, sweeter than the smallest\nsilver bell that rang the hour of rest--was that slender voice\nfloating on the odorous and translucent air. Nearer and nearer it\ncame, echoing down the valley, \"I know it, I know it, I know it!\"\n\nThen from between the rounded hills, among which the brook of\nBrighthopes is born, appeared a young angel, a little child, with\nflying hair of gold, and green wreaths twined about his shoulders, and\nfluttering hands that played upon the air and seemed to lift him so\nlightly that he had no need of wings. As thistle-down, blown by the\nwind, dances across the water, so he came along the little stream,\nsinging clear above the murmur of the brook.\n\nAll the angels rose and turned to look at him with wondering eyes.\nMultitudes of others came flying swiftly to the place from which the\nstrange, new song was sounding. Rank within rank, like a garden of\nliving flowers, they stood along the sloping banks of the brook while\nthe child-angel floated into the midst of them, singing:\n\n\"I know it, I know it, I know it! Man shall be made like God because\nthe Son of God shall become a man.\"\n\nAt this all the angels looked at one another with amazement, and\ngathered more closely about the child-angel, as those who hear\nwonderful news.\n\n\"How can this be?\" they asked. \"How is it possible that the Son of God\nshould be a man?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" said the young angel. \"I only know that it is to be.\"\n\n\"But if he becomes a man,\" said Raphael, \"he will be at the mercy\nof men; the cruel and the wicked will have power upon him; he will\nsuffer.\"\n\n\"I know it,\" answered the young angel, \"and by suffering he will\nunderstand the meaning of all sorrow and pain; and he will be able to\ncomfort every one who cries; and his own tears will be for the healing\nof sad hearts; and those who are healed by him will learn for his sake\nto be kind to each other.\"\n\n\"But if the Son of God is a true man,\" said Uriel, \"he must first be\na child, simple, and lowly, and helpless. It may be that he will never\ngain the learning of the schools. The masters of earthly wisdom will\ndespise him and speak scorn of him.\"\n\n\"I know it,\" said the young angel, \"but in meekness will he answer\nthem; and to those who become as little children he will give the\nheavenly wisdom that comes, without seeking, to the pure and gentle\nof heart.\"\n\n\"But if he becomes a man,\" said Michael, \"evil men will hate and\npersecute him: they may even take his life, if they are stronger than\nhe.\"\n\n\"I know it,\" answered the young angel, \"they will nail him to a cross.\nBut when he is lifted up, he will draw all men unto him, for he will\nstill be the Son of God, and no heart that is open to love can help\nloving him, since his love for men is so great that he is willing to\ndie for them.\"\n\n\"But how do you know these things?\" cried the other angels. \"Who are\nyou?\"\n\n\"I am the Christmas angel,\" he said. \"At first I was sent as the dream\nof a little child, a holy child, blessed and wonderful, to dwell in\nthe heart of a pure virgin, Mary of Nazareth. There I was hidden till\nthe word came to call me back to the throne of the King, and tell\nme my name, and give me my new message. For this is Christmas day on\nEarth, and to-day the Son of God is born of a woman. So I must fly\nquickly, before the sun rises, to bring the good news to those happy\nmen who have been chosen to receive them.\"\n\nAs he said this, the young angel rose, with arms outspread, from the\ngreen meadow of Peacefield and, passing over the bounds of Heaven,\ndropped swiftly as a shooting-star toward the night shadow of the\nEarth. The other angels followed him--a throng of dazzling forms,\nbeautiful as a rain of jewels falling from the dark-blue sky. But\nthe child-angel went more swiftly than the others, because of the\ncertainty of gladness in his heart.\n\nAnd as the others followed him they wondered who had been favoured\nand chosen to receive the glad tidings.\n\n\"It must be the Emperor of the World and his counsellors,\" they\nthought. But the flight passed over Rome.\n\n\"It may be the philosophers and the masters of learning,\" they\nthought. But the flight passed over Athens.\n\n\"Can it be the High Priest of the Jews, and the elders and the\nscribes?\" they thought. But the flight passed over Jerusalem.\n\nIt floated out over the hill country of Bethlehem; the throng of\nsilent angels holding close together, as if perplexed and doubtful;\nthe child-angel darting on far in advance, as one who knew the way\nthrough the darkness.\n\nThe villages were all still: the very houses seemed asleep; but in one\nplace there was a low sound of talking in a stable, near to an inn--a\nsound as of a mother soothing her baby to rest.\n\nAll over the pastures on the hillsides a light film of snow had\nfallen, delicate as the veil of a bride adorned for the marriage; and\nas the child-angel passed over them, alone in the swiftness of his\nflight, the pure fields sparkled round him, giving back his radiance.\n\nAnd there were in that country shepherds abiding in the fields,\nkeeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo! the angel of the\nLord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,\nand they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them: \"Fear not;\nfor behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to\nall nations. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David,\na Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto\nyou; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in\na manger.\"\n\nAnd suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly\nhost, praising God and saying: \"Glory to God in the highest, and on\nearth peace, good-will toward men.\" And the shepherds said one to\nanother: \"Let us now go, even to Bethlehem, and see this thing which\nis come to pass.\"\n\nSo I said within myself that I also would go with the shepherds, even\nto Bethlehem. And I heard a great and sweet voice, as of a bell, which\nsaid, \"Come!\" And when the bell had sounded twelve times, I awoke; and\nit was Christmas morn; and I knew that I had been in a dream.\n\nYet it seemed to me that the things which I had heard were true.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nA LITTLE ESSAY\n\n\n\n\nCHRISTMAS-GIVING AND CHRISTMAS-LIVING\n\nI\n\n\nThe custom of exchanging presents on a certain day in the year is very\nmuch older than Christmas, and means very much less. It has obtained\nin almost all ages of the world, and among many different nations.\nIt is a fine thing or a foolish thing, as the case may be; an\nencouragement to friendliness, or a tribute to fashion; an expression\nof good nature, or a bid for favour; an outgoing of generosity, or\na disguise of greed; a cheerful old custom, or a futile old farce,\naccording to the spirit which animates it and the form which it takes.\n\nBut when this ancient and variously interpreted tradition of a day\nof gifts was transferred to the Christmas season, it was brought\ninto vital contact with an idea which must transform it, and with an\nexample which must lift it up to a higher plane. The example is the\nlife of Jesus. The idea is unselfish interest in the happiness of\nothers.\n\nThe great gift of Jesus to the world was himself. He lived with and\nfor men. He kept back nothing. In every particular and personal gift\nthat he made to certain people there was something of himself that\nmade it precious.\n\nFor example, at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, it was his thought for\nthe feelings of the giver of the feast, and his wish that every guest\nshould find due entertainment, that lent the flavour of a heavenly\nhospitality to the wine which he provided.\n\nWhen he gave bread and fish to the hungry multitude who had followed\nhim out among the hills by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were\nrefreshed and strengthened by the sense of the personal care of Jesus\nfor their welfare, as much as by the food which he bestowed upon them.\nIt was another illustration of the sweetness of \"a dinner of herbs,\nwhere love is.\"\n\nThe gifts of healing which he conferred upon many different kinds of\nsufferers were, in every case, evidences that Jesus was willing to\ngive something of himself, his thought, his sympathy, his vital power,\nto the men and women among whom he lived. Once, when a paralytic was\nbrought to Jesus on a bed, he surprised everybody, and offended many,\nby giving the poor wretch the pardon of his sins, before he gave new\nlife to his body. That was just because Jesus thought before he gave;\nbecause he desired to satisfy the deepest need; because in fact he\ngave something of himself in every gift. All true Christmas-giving\nought to be after this pattern.\n\nNot that it must all be solemn and serious. For the most part it deals\nwith little wants, little joys, little tokens of friendly feeling. But\nthe feeling must be more than the token; else the gift does not really\nbelong to Christmas.\n\nIt takes time and effort and unselfish expenditure of strength to make\ngifts in this way. But it is the only way that fits the season.\n\nThe finest Christmas gift is not the one that costs the most money,\nbut the one that carries the most love.\n\n\nII\n\nBut how seldom Christmas comes--only once a year; and how soon it is\nover--a night and a day! If that is the whole of it, it seems not\nmuch more durable than the little toys that one buys of a fakir on the\nstreet-corner. They run for an hour, and then the spring breaks, and\nthe legs come off, and nothing remains but a contribution to the dust\nheap.\n\nBut surely that need not and ought not to be the whole of\nChristmas--only a single day of generosity, ransomed from the dull\nservitude of a selfish year,--only a single night of merry-making,\ncelebrated in the slave-quarters of a selfish race! If every gift\nis the token of a personal thought, a friendly feeling, an unselfish\ninterest in the joy of others, then the thought, the feeling, the\ninterest, may remain after the gift is made.\n\nThe little present, or the rare and long-wished-for gift (it matters\nnot whether the vessel be of gold, or silver, or iron, or wood, or\nclay, or just a small bit of birch bark folded into a cup), may carry\na message something like this:\n\n\"I am thinking of you to-day, because it is Christmas, and I wish you\nhappiness. And to-morrow, because it will be the day after Christmas,\nI shall still wish you happiness; and so on, clear through the year.\nI may not be able to tell you about it every day, because I may be\nfar away; or because both of us may be very busy; or perhaps because I\ncannot even afford to pay the postage on so many letters, or find the\ntime to write them. But that makes no difference. The thought and the\nwish will be here just the same. In my work and in the business of\nlife, I mean to try not to be unfair to you or injure you in any way.\nIn my pleasure, if we can be together, I would like to share the fun\nwith you. Whatever joy or success comes to you will make me glad.\nWithout pretense, and in plain words, good-will to you is what I mean,\nin the Spirit of Christmas.\"\n\nIt is not necessary to put a message like this into high-flown\nlanguage, to swear absolute devotion and deathless consecration. In\nlove and friendship, small, steady payments on a gold basis are better\nthan immense promissory notes. Nor, indeed, is it always necessary to\nput the message into words at all, nor even to convey it by a tangible\ntoken. To feel it and to act it out--that is the main thing.\n\nThere are a great many people in the world whom we know more or less,\nbut to whom for various reasons we cannot very well send a Christmas\ngift. But there is hardly one, in all the circles of our acquaintance,\nwith whom we may not exchange the touch of Christmas life.\n\nIn the outer circles, cheerful greetings, courtesy, consideration;\nin the inner circles, sympathetic interest, hearty congratulations,\nhonest encouragement; in the inmost circle, comradeship, helpfulness,\ntenderness,--\n\n  \"_Beautiful friendship tried by sun and wind\n  Durable from the daily dust of life._\"\n\nAfter all, Christmas-living is the best kind of Christmas-giving.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nA SHORT CHRISTMAS SERMON\n\n\n\n\nKEEPING CHRISTMAS\n\n    ROMANS, xiv, 6: _He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto\n    the Lord._\n\nIt is a good thing to observe Christmas day. The mere marking of times\nand seasons, when men agree to stop work and make merry together, is\na wise and wholesome custom. It helps one to feel the supremacy of the\ncommon life over the individual life. It reminds a man to set his own\nlittle watch, now and then, by the great clock of humanity which runs\non sun time.\n\nBut there is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and\nthat is, keeping Christmas.\n\nAre you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to\nremember what other people have done for you; to ignore what the world\nowes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your rights\nin the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your\nchances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see\nthat your fellow-men are just as real as you are, and try to look\nbehind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that\nprobably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are\ngoing to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to\nclose your book of complaints against the management of the universe,\nand look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of\nhappiness--are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you\ncan keep Christmas.\n\nAre you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires\nof little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people\nwho are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you,\nand ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the\nthings that other people have to bear on their hearts; to try to\nunderstand what those who live in the same house with you really\nwant, without waiting for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that\nit will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front\nso that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your\nugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate\nopen--are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can\nkeep Christmas.\n\nAre you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in\nthe world--stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than\ndeath--and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen\nhundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?\nThen you can keep Christmas.\n\nAnd if you keep it for a day, why not always?\n\nBut you can never keep it alone.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTWO CHRISTMAS PRAYERS\n\n\n\n\nA CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR THE HOME\n\n\n  Father of all men, look upon our family,\n  Kneeling together before Thee,\n  And grant us a true Christmas.\n\n  With loving heart we bless Thee:\n    For the gift of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ,\n    For the peace He brings to human homes,\n    For the good-will He teaches to sinful men,\n    For the glory of Thy goodness shining in His face.\n\n  With joyful voice we praise Thee:\n    For His lowly birth and His rest in the manger,\n    For the pure tenderness of His mother Mary,\n    For the fatherly care that protected Him,\n    For the Providence that saved the Holy Child\n      To be the Saviour of the world.\n\n  With deep desire we beseech Thee:\n    Help us to keep His birthday truly,\n    Help us to offer, in His name, our Christmas prayer.\n\n  From the sickness of sin and the darkness of doubt,\n  From selfish pleasures and sullen pains,\n  From the frost of pride and the fever of envy,\n    God save us every one, through the blessing of Jesus.\n\n  In the health of purity and the calm of mutual trust,\n  In the sharing of joy and the bearing of trouble,\n  In the steady glow of love and the clear light of hope,\n    God keep us every one, by the blessing of Jesus.\n\n  In praying and praising, in giving and receiving,\n  In eating and drinking, in singing and making merry,\n  In parents' gladness and in children's mirth,\n  In dear memories of those who have departed,\n  In good comradeship with those who are here,\n  In kind wishes for those who are far away,\n  In patient waiting, sweet contentment, generous cheer,\n    God bless us every one, with the blessing of Jesus.\n\n  By remembering our kinship with all men,\n  By well-wishing, friendly speaking and kindly doing,\n  By cheering the downcast and adding sunshine to daylight,\n  By welcoming strangers (poor shepherds or wise men),\n  By keeping the music of the angels' song in this home,\n    God help us every one to share the blessing of Jesus:\n  In whose name we keep Christmas:\n  And in whose words we pray together:\n\n  _Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name._\n  _Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven._\n  _Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we\n          forgive our debtors._\n  _And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:_\n  _For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.\n          Amen._\n\n\n\n\nA CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR LONELY FOLKS\n\n\n  Lord God of the solitary,\n  Look upon me in my loneliness.\n  Since I may not keep this Christmas in the home,\n  Send it into my heart.\n\n  Let not my sins cloud me in,\n  But shine through them with forgiveness in the face of the child\n          Jesus.\n  Put me in loving remembrance of the lowly lodging in the stable of\n          Bethlehem,\n  The sorrows of the blessed Mary, the poverty and exile of the\n          Prince of Peace.\n  For His sake, give me a cheerful courage to endure my lot,\n  And an inward comfort to sweeten it.\n\n  Purge my heart from hard and bitter thoughts.\n  Let no shadow of forgetting come between me and friends far away:\n  Bless them in their Christmas mirth:\n  Hedge me in with faithfulness,\n  That I may not grow unworthy to meet them again.\n\n  Give me good work to do,\n  That I may forget myself and find peace in doing it for Thee.\n  Though I am poor, send me to carry some gift to those who are\n          poorer,\n  Some cheer to those who are more lonely.\n  Grant me the joy to do a kindness to one of Thy little ones:\n  Light my Christmas candle at the gladness of an innocent and\n          grateful heart.\n\n  Strange is the path where Thou leadest me:\n  Let me not doubt Thy wisdom, nor lose Thy hand.\n  Make me sure that Eternal Love is revealed in Jesus, Thy dear Son,\n  To save us from sin and solitude and death.\n  Teach me that I am not alone,\n  But that many hearts, all round the world,\n  Join with me through the silence, while I pray in His name:\n\n  _Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name._\n  _Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven._\n  _Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we\n          forgive our debtors._\n  _And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:_\n  _For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.\n          Amen._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *","title":"The Spirit of Christmas","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":5892}