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— lUtUtWtMUIUIVI n. X \ *• THE CHRONICLE Strives To Be A Cleon Newspaper, Complete Newsy and Reliable (Eltttfam If You Don't Read THE CHRONICLE You Don't Get the News Volume XL1X Clinton, S. C, Thursday, December 22, 1949 Nunfber 51 A MEDITATION FOR CHRISTMAS By IUv. WARE W. WIMBERLY ^ Fast President KJwanis Club of Wsbash, Ind., in Kiwanls Magazine T A “Glory be God in the highest, and on earth peace.” "Of t|»e ing-ease of his govern ment and of^jpeace there shall be no end.” The ages have seen a large measure of the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the increases of government. The world has been made better. The increase of peace I ficient answer to the wars of thj must depend upon the men of faith worj^j. When it h^s been complete- and goodwill. Christianity is the only and suf- ly tried there will world. be a warles The gift God predated to Man on that first Christmas is still the most blessed thing He could have given. Isn’t it strange, then, that despite all of <Air interest in Christmas, few people understand the sig nificance of this one great gift? UUMiBLE shepherds adored. Wise men offered gifts. But the people of the nations would have none of the gift God gave at the first Christ mas. They still don’t know its value. “Give us bigger and better armies, ships and airplanes,” say the people of the nations. ‘Give us a super- colossal bomb that will put us for ever on top.” “No! Give us our own kind of po litical system,” say the people of the nations. ‘Give us fascism, and all will fl>e well. Give us communism, and the world will be saved. Give us democracy, and the millenium will be drawn.” “Wait! Just give us economic abun dance,” say the people of the nations. “Give us all the money we need, and all our needs will be met. By what ever route, by whatever political sys tem, give us money!” “Rather, give us an enduring peace,” say the people of the na tions. “War is our enemy. Peace is our friend. Somehow, give us a world that shall practice war no more.” “Better than that, give us health,” say the people of the nations. “Give us a cure for cancer! Give us a cure for heart disease! Give us and our children a cure for polio and all the ( other diseases that prey upon us! | What do we have if we do not have health?” “No! First give us homes,” say the people of the nations. “Give us homes secure from war, homes secure from crime's increasing menace, homes secure from the mounting toll of broken marriages. How can our world be whole if our homes be broken?” But the people do not want the J gift God offers. They do not want, the supreme gift, without which all* we have been given, all we may be given, are not gifts at all but liabili ties. For what good is our stockpile ofi bombs in the hands of men without | character? Of what value is our mon- j ey in the possession of the immoral? j What good our enduring peace if we j use the days of peace to work evil? What matters the kind of govern-; ment if corrupt men control it? How valuable is health if healthy men are evil? Or how secure will our homes remain if fathers and mothers lack moral stature? So the Creator gave the supreme gift to men. He offered us Goodness — Goodness Incarnate, some creeds say. Others call His gift Righteous ness. Others call it the Way of Life. Still others call it Character. But only a few humble shepherds, only three wise men, were humble enough and wise enough to receive the gift at His hands. Average American Family To Spend About $40 for Christmas Minneapolis, Minn., Dec. 19.—The average American family will spend about $40 on Christmas gifts this! year, a survey showed today. 1 Twenty per cent of the money will I go for toys, so that the nation’s 41,- | 000,000 youngsters below the age of i 15 can wake up Christmas morning and find about $8 worth of toys un-! der the tree. These figures were worked out by | the family economic bureau of the Northwestern National Life Insur-! anee company. They were based on' retail sales figu.es and U. S. De- partmen* of Commerce statistics. No matter how much papa com plains about the bills, the survey showed, the average expenditure for' Christmas presents won’t put the 1 family in the poorhouse. Tbat $401 amounts to about one-sixth of the average monthly income after taxes.; Christmas buying is expected toj total about $1,600,000,000 this year, less than in 1946 and about the samjT as in 1947. . This means the nation’s 150,000,-' 000 citizens will shell out an average of $10.67 • each, while the average! family of 3.67 persons will spend: $39,16. Toy sales alone are expected to hit \ $320,000,000, some 65 per cent of the, toy industry’s total annual business. { This amounts to $7.80 for each of the J country’s children. Some will get too many toys, of ; course, and some too few. That $7.80 figure is the average spent for play things ranging from a cheap red wagon to such mechanical wonders' as a $250 toy bear that actually blows bubbles. The Santa Claus who buys his son a train will find the bill can run eas- [ ily into hundreds of dollars. This! year trains come equipped with real-j ly miraculous gadgets—a cattle car which stops at an unloading plat- farm, and let toy cows march out of the car and back in again. Or there’s a car with a * milkman who deposits a can of milk when the; train stops at the platform. Gifts for a small girl can cost a large wad of folding money too. One, famous Fifth Avenue toy store is ad vertising a doll house with electric lights. It comes completely furnished, with miniature'furniture, a modern kitchen and a tile bathroom with a shower and shower curtain. The price tag reads $300. CHRISTMAS EVE The snow is full of silver light Spilled from the heavens’ tilled cup And, on this holy, tranquil night, The eyes of men are lifted up To see the promise written fair,. The hope of peace for all on earth, And hear the singing bells declare The marvel of the dear Christ’s birth. The way from year to year is long Aad though the road b« dark so Ur, Bright is the manger, tweet the song, The steeple rises to the Star. A White Christmas Dr. Frederick Brown Harris, Chaplain, United States Senate How the jaded heart of *8 weary world welcomes the birthday of the Babe whose coming broke the ages in two. All the ingenuities of art are commandeered to see to it that lovely etchings and greetings set us dreaming of the white Christmas we used to know. But Christmas is not simply retrospect. It is also pros pect. There are sinister forces in the earth which dream not of a coming whiteness, but whose stock in trade is to attribute to others who plan good -will the black motives which the accusers themselves harbor. They- see even the Good Samaritan as a scheming gangster. But such a day as this is no time for panic and despair. There are ir resistible tides of good will in the world which are sure to win. The very stars in their courses fight for those who go on dreaming of a white Christmas. Dreamers have ever been pioneers of a divine discontent ,and they own the future. Dreamers have caught the vision of a better day, of a just- er order, of a cleaner, kindlier world. Conscious of the betrayals of democracy and the denials of hu man brotherhood which are part and parcel of the present social order, including our own, moved with com passion by the blackness of the mis ery which has settled over so many nations, our America is dreaming of a White Christmas for all mankind, and of the peace on earth which can come only to and through men of good will. SIX-INCH SERMON By Rev. Robert H. Harper GOD’S MESSIAH Lesson for December 25: Isaiah 9: 2-7; 11:1-5. Memory Selection: Luke 2:14. From antiquity light has been a symbol of life. The sun is a life- giver in the material world. So Jes us, who came to reveal God to men, is light and life in the world of spir it. Isaiah likened his coming to tfce kindly glow of a great light. The lesson leads us to think of the names the Saviour bears. Won derful, Counsellor and Prince of Peace belong to his humanity, Migh ty God and Everlasting Father be long to him as God and are approp riate to his, reign as the King of kings. In the name, Lord Jesus Christ, Jesi/s, meaning Saviour, is his given name. Christ, denoting the Anointed One, is his title. Lord re fers to his kingship in the hearts of men. He who came of the stock of Jes us is also the Son of God and his reign brings justice and righteous ness, equity to the meek, and de struction to the wicked. Well may we join in the song of the angels: ■ ' A ' ' . • ■ \ GOOD M/ED to Skone Oun CkniMmaA Our organization is dedicated to the growth, progress and betterment of our city and community. We ask the co operation of our entire citizenship as we face the problems and opportunities of the New Year. It is a pleasure to be of service to the community in every possible way. A Merry Christmas ... Happy New Year! Clinton W. M. Walker, President rot Miss Iona Blakely, Secretary • \