The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, December 26, 1963, Image 9
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Uttle Town of Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Jordan, Dec. 17—
On the Plain of Boax to the east,
Uttle Bedouin girls follow the
wheat harvesters to glean bits of
grain.
Men in flowing headdress
trudge along rocky trails from
the south accompanied by worn.
eh, children and baggage.
The whine of 'reed flutes from
ristant slopes heralds the passing
of lonely shepherds watching
their flocks.
Identical scenes might have
welcomed the Holy Family on
the outskirts of the Uttle town of
Now it is again the season of the year that we call Christmas, the
most joyful and most universally celebrated of all our holidays.
The observance of Christmas may differ among nations and peoples -
which stretch from the, lands of snow and ice to the sunny Southern
hemisphere, but in every comer of the world the true meaning of the
holiday is ever the same.
As our world has changed through the centuries since the first
Christmas, so have we taken the customs of Christmas and adjusted
them to our changing environment. The origin of many of these cus
toms have been lost in the passing of time to the extent that today
many bum candles in the window and adorn firesides and homes with
holly and misUetoe without a passing thought as to why we use candles
rathe- than kerosene lamps and holly or mistletoe in preference to
other winter greenery. It is custom, and we believe in following cu**
toms, in one fashion or another.
Customs have their place in the scheme of things, so let 04- keep
them and, if need be, give them new meanings of our own. Yet, with
it all, let us remember that customs and traditions are only a part
of the observance of Christmas. We do not keep the Christmas merely
because we observe the customs.
Let us keep Christmas in our hearts. Let us remember that it is a
religious holiday, a time of joy and peace and faith and hope. More
particularly, it is a time to be humbly grateful for mankind’s greatest
birthright—the hope of eternal salvation. Such was God's gift to the
world that night at Bethlehem.
With the Spirit of Christmas in our hearts we shall find deep and
significant meanings in the customs and traditions we associate with
this great holiday.
He So Loved ...
He Taught the World to Love
1 Fod God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son . . .
How meaningful are these words
today, nearly two thousand years
after the humble beginning of that
One Great Life at Bethlehem. How
holy and purposeful was this life
upon earth that it comes to us
again and again in the spirit of
Christmas to remind that the real
joy and the real goodness of life
lie not in riches and gold, or self
attauunent, but in thoughtful and
unselfish service and love.
For He so loved the world that
He taught the world to love.
Through me, great and wonderful
life upon ejrth. He set down for
all mankind and for all time the
supreme example of the good life
In His every deed and action He
portrayed the qualities of love and
faith and kindness.
These qualities—and more—are
all a part of the Christmas. But,
by His example, they are qualities
that should abound in our lives
throughout the year.
In thankfulness to God, for all
His goodness and love, we should
keep the Christmas in its true and
joyful meaning, thd spiritual occa
sion of the birth of Christ. And if
we can truly keep the Christmas,
then perhaps we can keep the spir
it of Christ within our hearts
throughout the year.
Whitt Houst Hasn’t
Always Hal a Trtt
President Theodore Roosevelt,
an early conservationist, once dis
approved of Christmas trees and
for several years forbade any be
ing brought into the White House.
But one year, his sons, Archie
and Quentin, smuggled one in and
set it up in Archie’s room. After
the discovery, Gifford Pinchot, a
great forester and conservationist
who later became Governor of
Pennsylvania, soothed T.R. by ex
plaining that supervised and care
ful harvesting of Christmas trees
—as thinnings—was good for the
forests because it gave other trees
room to grow.
Ever since, the White House has
had an indoor tree.
8XAMNAL SIGHT ... A
gster talking It
Is a aare sign
kslHay la net far away,
mg lad listens attenttve-
laata explains why It
be a feed bey.
Greeting Cards Came
To Us From England
The thoughtful custom of sending
cards to friends and relatives at
Christmas comes down to us from
England.
It is generally suggested by his
torians that the idea began with
schoolboys away from home who
wrote their Christmas letters on
fancy paper and in fancy writing.
There has been controversy
through the years as to who sent
the first lithographed cards. In
1941 a copy of an old Christmas
card was found in the British mu
seum and credit for the card was
given to William Maw Egley, a
19-year old apprentice. In the year
1842.
Cole Gets Credit
Later evidence, however, gave
credit for the first card to Sir Hen
ry Cole and lithographer John C
Horsley, in the year 1843.
Cards credited to Egley and Cole
are quite similar. Each was etched
in Mack and white and each shows
drinking, dancing and holiday mer
riment scenes, and both carry holi
day greetings.
Evidence that Egley was not the
originator comes from a framed
copy of the Egley card which re
portedly carries a note on the back
|the apprentice’s handwriting,
note says the card was fin-
December 3, 1848 and is the
ever published."
Cole began sending out cards to
all his friends in 1848, each card
bearing the message, "A Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year."
Although the cards brought fame
and popularity to Cole, it was some
twenty years before Christmas
cards became very popular in Eng-
Bethlehem the day Christ was
bom.
At the time of Christ’s birth
Bethlehem was a market town
for rural people, especially Be
douins to the east and south. In
this respect, the town has not
changed.
As long as Dgvtd’s time 900
years before Qhnfcfc, David’s son,
Chamaan, built a caravanseri
here which served as shelter for
Bedouins and their flocks as they
moved in and out of town. .That
same caravanseri was probably
the inn where Joseph and Mary
were unable to find lodgings. The
caravanseri has disappeared but
the same kind of Bedouins still
come to Bethlehem.
Marked by the typicu Arab
headdress falling down over the
neck and shoulders, the wide
shouldered cloaks and their lop
ing gait, these Bedouins throng
Bethlehem’s streets almost any
day. They come in to buy and
sell on a meager scale and spend
long hours in crude sidewalk
cafes sipping thimble-sized cups
of bitter Arab coffee.
The market place for these peo
ple is an open square paved with
flagstones. The grain;-rice,. vege
tables or olcFclothes for sale are
displayed on flat trays on the
ground or stacked in crude tem
porary wooden stalls.
The settled inhabitants of Beth
lehem’s population number about
10,000 and live in a city which
still bears the mark of the Cru
saders. The overwhelhnng ma
jority of the population is Chris
tian; only one Moslem minaret
competes with innumerable
church spires and domes on
Bethlehem’s skyline.
These people live in stone hous
es, many of them with low domes
as protection against summer
heat and winter rain. Some of
their houses date back to Cru
sader times. Many open into cob
blestone streets barely wide
enough to accommodate an au
tomobile. The arched gateways
and vaulted roofs stretching
across streets recall the medi
eval Europe of the Crusades. -
Costumes of the women of
Bethlehem bear the Crusader
mark. Those who wear tradition
al dress have long full garments,
usuarry btack or dark red, dec
orated wth square stitched red or
gold embroidery, usually in the
form of a Crusader’s cross.
These women wear q head
dress found only in Bethlehem
and unknown in the rest of Pales
tine. This is a conical shaped
hgih hat, covered with a large
white veil.
When Christ was horn the peo
ple of Bethlehem lived largely
from sheep raising and olive
growing. Many live from the
same occupation 'today. Olive
groves braced with stone ter
races fall away from the edge of
the town to the Plain of Boaz be
low. On the plain wheat is
grown. Here Ruth of the Old
Testament story gleaned behind
the harvesters, just as Bedouin
girls do today.
Many Bethlehem inhabitants
own flocks of sheep or goats in
additon to the land thev till. Car
ing for these sheep dictates a way
of life unchanged since the night
shepherds on nearby slopes heard
angels sing of the new-born King.
Shepherds daily leave the town
and take their flocks over the
same slopes where the angels
sang. Sometimes they travel 25
miles in a single day, clambering
over the rocky hillsides to find
bits of grass and shrubs.
A new element has been adde<
to Bethlehem’s population since
1948—Arab refugees from Israel
Driven from their homes' by the
Arab-Israel war, these people
live in the outskirts of town in
tents, hovels, and caves. Many a
baby has been born in the past
seven years in circumstiances
J similar to those of Jesus—in a
grotto shared by animals, placed
in a crude wooden crib made by
the father.
On Christmas Eve these refu
gees sit sullenly beside the road
watching well • dressed tourists
arrive for Christmas ceremon
ials at the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. As there are no Euro
pean standard hotels in Bethle
hem, most tourists stay in Je
rusalem. They drive back and
orth for , the Christmas Eve
Mnrices'Wifich recount the inci
dents of the day the Holy Family
came into a crowded Bethlehem
and found "there was no room
for them in the inn."
Almost for the first time in his-
ory, the shepherds of Bethlehem
today have their freedom of
movement restricted. Within
sight of their town is the military
frontier dividing Arab Jordan
from the newly created state of
srael. With the war still un
settled shepherds are forbidden
o approach the demarcation
ine, for fear of touching off a
frontier incident.
At noon each day shepherds
must leave grazing grounds to
find water for their flocks. Many
visit Solomon’s Pools near Beth-
ehem at midday. In the evening
he shepherd carefully counts his
flock as it enters the fold, one by
one. Thi fold may be a little sta
ble built by the shepherd. More
often it is a limestone grotto,
with the entrance,, practically
closed, to admit only one animal
at a time.
Bethlehem’s status as the
birthplace of Christ has given the
to w n a new modern industry-
tourism. The otherwise sleepy lit
tle town ranks as one of the fore
most sites of religous pilgrim
age in the world and every year
it is visited by thousands of tour
ists from all continents. It is the
center of numerous religous or
ders and institutions of all types
—Catholic, Orthodox, Armenian,
and Protestant. The varied dress
of friars, priests; fluids, and sis
ters add to the color of native
costumes.
Many modern Bethlehemites
make a living carving objects of
piety from mother of pearl, Dead
Sea Stone, and olive wood. These
souvenirs, along with embroider-
-t
cd and brocaded Crusaders’
jackets are offered for sale in
small shops not far from the
Church of the Nativity where
Christ was born. , .,
The shop-keepers lounge in the
sun in the sidewalk cafes, wait
ing for tourists to arrive at the
services as a guide. He will show
the . tourist through the church
and all the other Bethlehem
hightis at no charge.
This offer may sound suspic- !
ious, but it is valid. The guide
asks no money. At the end of the
tour he invites the tourist to his
shop for a rest and a cup of
coffee or tea—still with no obli- i
gation.
Once the viistor is seated the
sh(%)-kejep^r casually calls aUen-
tior[ to the souvenirs he^has to
sell' The tourist is lucky if he can
escape without buying.
Business is slow for these peo
ple most of the year, but when
j
Christmas comes, Bethlehem’s church. As soon as a tourist ar-
population more than doubles for rives—and they are easy to spot
a few days and souvenir sellers —the. shop-keepers converge on
are happy. him in a pack. Each offers his
$ hr •
May Christmas bring to
you and yours all the hap
piness your hearts can
hold. Best wishes!
<*
J. C. THOMAS, Jeweler
v
an aw mawrkwim a 1 *cm_ CM
Bethlehem Basilica
Among Oldest Churches
The Basilica of the Nativity at
Bethlehem, constructed more than
1,620 years ago, is one of the oldest
churches hi Christendom.
As tt stands today it represent*
the original building as erected by
Emperor Constantine and restore-
ttans and addition* mad* under
Justtnian. j
It Is surrounded by three con
vents of separate faiths, Greek,
Lathi and Armenian. All three
have the privilege of worshiping hi
the Grotto of the Nativity.
B.C.
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To love one another as a brother... to
have good will among men., • to bring peace to
i • . r
every heart — this is the Spirit of Christmas. We pray that it
. ! •
will enter your home at this Holy season giving to you and
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your loved ones the greatest happiness.
It is with genuine appreciation of your friendship
and patronage that we extend this heartfelt good wish.
THE CITY of CLINTON
CBBONICLB PUB, CO.
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