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CONSTANT CHRISTMAS

IT is the custom to celebrate Christmas but one day in the year. We have been accustomed to think that the Christmas message of old is the only Christmas message given to the peoples of earth. Phillips Brooks, with deeper insight, gave us this message to remind us that every day should be lived in the spirit of Christmas; that the song of the angels is a "never silent song;" and that "the glory of the Lord" which shone round about the shepherds of the hills still shines in the never-fading splendor of sun and stars. All life that strives through love and service toward the highest and best may hear continually the echo of the glad angels' song,

"Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth, peace, good will toward men."

CONSTANT CHRISTMAS*

The sky can still remember
The earliest Christmas morn,
When in the cold December

The Saviour Christ was born.
And still in darkness clouded,

And still in noonday light,

*Used by the courteous permission of the publishers, E. P. Dutton & Co.

It feels its far depth crowded
With angels fair and bright.

O never-fading splendor;
O never-silent song!

Still keep the green earth tender,

Still keep the grey earth strong;
Still keep the brave earth dreaming
Of deeds that shall be done,
While children's lives come streaming
Like sunbeams from the sun.

No star unfolds its glory,

No trumpet wind is blown,

But tells the Christmas story

In music of its own.

No eager strife of mortals

In busy field or town But sees the open portals

Through which the Christ came down.

O angels sweet and splendid,

Throng in our hearts and sing
The wonders which attended
The coming of the king,
Till we, too, boldly pressing
Where once the angels trod,
Climb Bethlehem's hill of blessing,

And find the Son of God.

-Phillips Brooks.

NOTES

1. Read Luke ii, 1-20; Matthew ii, 1-12 for the complete story of

the Christmas song.

2. Find the story of the origin of Christmas as we celebrate it

to-day.

3. Find how Christmas is celebrated in other lands. Tell what

quaint customs you find.

4. Report to the class the acts of service and charity you have known at Christmastide.

5. Cold December. The birth of Christ was at first thought to have occurred in December, hence the Christmas festival was celebrated toward the close of that month. Present-day students think Christ must have been born some time in the spring when the weather was warm enough for the shepherds to stay out in the open fields with the flocks.

6. Be prepared to give the meanings of the following words and expressions as here used: far depth, never-fading splendor, trumpet wind, eager strife, mortals, open portals, splendid, throng, wonders, boldly pressing, trod, hill of blessing.

EXERCISES

1. Tell the story upon which this poem is based.

2. Explain "The sky can still remember."

3. In what sense does the sky feel its far depth crowded with angels?

4. What is the "never-fading splendor"?

5. Why is the angel-song said to be "never-silent"?

6. In what sense can the splendor and the song "keep the green earth tender"?

7. How "keep the grey earth strong"?

8. How

"Keep the brave earth dreaming

Of deeds that shall be done"?

9. Explain the first four lines of the third stanza.

10. What are the "open portals"?

11. How can the angels "throng in our hearts"?

12. In what sense can mortals be "boldly pressing where once the

angels trod"?

13. What is meant by climbing "Bethlehem's hill of blessing"? 14. According to this poem, how then can mortals to-day find God? 15. What now seems to you to be the real meaning of the title of this poem?

ADDITIONAL READINGS

BROOKS: O Little Town of Bethlehem.

LONGFELLOW: Christmas Bells. The Three Kings.

LOWELL: A Christmas Carol.

HOLLAND: A Christmas Carol.

SEARS: The Angels' Song.

ALICE CARY: A Christmas Story.

DICKENS: Christmas Carol.

WIGGIN: The Glad Evangel.

FIELD: Christmas Eve. Why Do Bells for Christmas Ring?
A Christmas Wish.

RYAN: A Christmas Carol.

MILTON Hymn to the Nativity.

TENNYSON: The Birth of Christ.

WHITTIER: Star of Bethlehem. Christmas Carmen.

THRING: Hymn for the Nativity.

ALCOTT: Becky's Christmas Dream.

CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI: A Christmas Carol.

RILEY: Tiny Tim's Prayer.

ALDRICH: A Christmas Phantasy.

VAN DYKE: The First Christmas Tree. The Other Wise Man.

STEVENSON: A Christmas Sermon.

NO HARM CAN COME

And so beside the Silent Sea

I wait the muffled oar;

No harm from Him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.

I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;

I only know I can not drift
Beyond His love and care.

-John Greenleaf Whittier.

THE BISHOP AND THE CONVICT

WE are always interested in knowing how a saintly man remains a saint under trying circumstances. Such a story is told us in this extract from "Les Miserables," the masterpiece of the great French author, Victor Hugo. The purpose of the author in writing "Les Miserables" was to awaken society to its striking imperfections and to spur it on to a higher sense of service. The leading character of the book is a dull, good-natured French peasant, Jean Valjean by name. After his parents died, he lived with his widowed sister and helped her to support her seven little children. During the severe winter of 1795, Jean was unable to find work. To save the family from starving, he stole a loaf of bread, and for this deed was sentenced to five years of hard labor in the galleys. Four successive attempts to escape added fourteen more years to his term of imprisonment. When he was finally released, he was a man who had lost all hope. This meeting with the bishop awakens new aspirations in Jean Valjean. One should read the entire story to realize how far kindness will go in awakening a poor hopeless soul.

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