THE CALL OF CHRISTMAS

Evening Star, Issue 20982, 22 December 1931, Page 6

THE CALL OF CHRISTMAS

THE CHALLENGE OF TO-DAY

[Written by the Rev. T. H. Eccersall, for the ‘Evening Star.’]

An old refrain, sweet with sacred memories, runs as follows;

Christmas, Christmas, happy time, Now bells ring your merry chime. Light hearts speak their glad refrain, Christmastid© has come again. Eight merrily did the chorus swell in the years of long ago, as families gathered round the fireside and expressed their gladness and mirth in song and story befitting the occasion. But the world has made rapid advancement since those days. The scientist has made his contribution to our mechanism, and the Ship of State rushes through space at a speed hitherto unknown.

That is the question. Our journey may be swift, but is it sure? We have discovered many new things, but what real service do they render mankind, and of what ethical value do wo turn them to? Are they assisting us in the building up of the human brotherhood, or are they forces that make for the disintegration, of society, bringing discord wnero harmony once existed and division whero unity prevailed. Are we losing the music of life? Do the chimes of Christmas fall upon deaf ears, dulled with' the din, clash, and clang of our mechanical age? Peace on earth, goodwill to men. Have we emptied such words as peace, love, joy, faith, and home, of all moral significance, or do they .belong to the past?. Let knowledge grow from more to more, But more of reverence in us dwell, That mind and soul, according well, May make one music as before. Wo have a goodly inheritage. Let us see to it that wo possess our possessions. The wise men of old set out on their long journey because they had needs which they had been unable to satisfy. The ancient Nestorians held that Zoraster was a disciple of Jeremiah, from whom he learned about the Messiah. Zoraster declared that in the latter days a pure Virgin should conceive, and that as soon as the Child was born a star would appear, blazing, even at noonday, with undiminished lustre. “You, my sons,” exclaimed the venerable seer, “will perceive its -rising before any other nation. As soon as you see tAe star, follow it wheresoever it leads you and adore the mysterious Child, offering your gifts to Him with the profoundest humility.” (Memoir, Mrs Judith S. Grant, missionary to Persia.) That, surelv, has some relation to the message of Matthew: “The wise men came from the east, asking, ‘ Where is He that is born King of the Jews? We have seen His star in the east and arc come to worship Him.’ ” Many are the calls and needs of the people of the world to-day; but above all others there stands the supreme need of forgiveness and reconciliation between the nations that were former enemies and people who have sacrificed their principle for policy, classes who have taken advantage of the need of their less fortunate fellows in order to satisfy their greed. Individually and collectively we have drifted from the high ideals that made the lives of our fathers and mothers spacious, wholesome, and contented. Our skyline is dark with clouds of moral as well as economic depression. International intrigue and world-wide mistrust have filled us with tho husks of discontent and pessimism. ' The cure for all this is found in following the star of reconciliation to God, who will help us in our time of need and satisfy the heart’s hunger for love. Just, as surely as our ships: are safely guided on the ocean by tha stars, so upon the sea of life the Star of Bethlehem has been lit by the Great Astronomer Royal to guide the indi-' vidual soul to safety and the ship of State to prosperity, if we are obedient to the light and knowledge given. It was a beautiful custom in Holland years ago for the young men to carry through the streets a bright silver star on a standard just before Christinas time and collect money for the old and helpless. Wo call to mind Dickens in his ‘ Christmas Carol/ how the Christmas spirit took possession of the miserly heart of Scrooge, with the result that ho surprised his ill-paid clerk, Bob Cratehit, with the gift of a great turkey and an increased salary, after ho had resolved that he would honour Christmas in his heart and try to keep it all the year. The stars that blaze most brightly in the human firmament are tho servants of mankind, who by character and service guide and help their fellows to higher levels of life. One of the newspapers in France is in the habit of taking a vote upon the question of what Frenchman has done the most for France. For a long time Napoleon headed the list; but in recent years the popular vote has displaced the warrior in favour of the worker. Pasteur, the great scientist whose services have done so much for humanity, was easily tho first on the list.

Two ragged street urchins stood ono day before the windows of a picture shop in London, and suddenly one of them cried: “Look, Jim, look!” “ What is it?” Jim asked. And the little fellow answered: “ Why, there he is. That’s our earl.” It was the photograph of the good Earl of Shaftesbury. The motto of his family is; “ Love, Serve,” and nobly did he live up to it. His work for the poor of London, the insane, the pauper children, chimney sweeps, and shoeblacks would take long to tell. Prince and pauper alike came to do him honour when ho died. A labouring man who had a piece of crepe fastened on his sleeve, said in a choking voice: “ Our earl’s gone. God Almighty knows he loved us, and we loved him, and we shan’t sec his like again.” “Somehow not only Christmas, but all the year through, the joy that, you give to others is the joy that comes back to you.”