The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, December 21, 1967, Image 10
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’...And On Earth Peace,
Good WHI Toward Men'
What is Christmas?
Family and friends and bright lights
and gifts and the scent of evergreen.
The excited wonder in the eyes of
children who still believe. The memo-
*Ttes of Christmases past. Nostalgic
* happiness.
No. Those are the trappings of
Christinas. Those are the man-made
associations of Christmas.
Christmas, indeed, should be a day
of happiness and rejoicing. It is in
celebration of the most historic event
in the history of mankind—a direct
gift from God to all mankind.
Remove the trappings and some
Challenge Of Christmas
BABSON PARK, lllASS. — As the season of
the birth of Christ returns, we gather new
strength from the angelic chants. . . there is
born to you this day in the city of David a
Savior who is Christ the Lord. . .Glory to God
in the highest. .
MANGER AND HUMAN EQUALITY
Jesus brought about a complete social
revolution. That is why the idea of His
Kingdom was rejected so promptly
so forcefully by the leaders of
the Romans and of the Jews. In every way,
Jesus tried to show that all men are equal
before God. He went further and promised
that the humble would be exalted and that
the meek would possess the land. Reflect, if
you will, on the ways in which His birth was
announced, marking the contract between
the angelic greeting to the shepherds and the
indirect sign to the three wise kings.
The kings, far away in the East, saw
only the star Had the shepherds seen such a
star, probably they would have gazed in awe
and then forgotten. Even had they sensed its
meaning, they would have been unable to
follow it, for they had neither the means nor
the leisure to do so. The indirect an
nouncement to the kings may have been a
tribute to their wisdom. More likely it was
meant to indicate that their wealth and
learning had its responsibilities, because for
them the way to the manger was neither
easy nor safe. And when they got there they
found the shepherds had already made their
adoration. The lesson is this: No matter
what our station or condition in life, our
color or creed, we are all God’s creatures
| and equal and responsible as individuals in
1 His sight.
j “JOY TO THE WORLD”
t ur. is so mysterious and often so ap
parently wayward in its vagaries that if we
• try to take a detached view of it for a mo-
I mcnt, we stand agape at the spectacle.
There is in it, however, one element that ad-
t mits of no misunderstanding. It is the role
' tfiat children play in the general scheme of
t things. Like a medal, a child has two $des.
■ On the one side, it is helpless, or so we
« think. On the other, it possesses the only
j quality or at least one of the principal re-
, sources, that lends warmth and strength to
t its elders. What matter if the world be split
| between rival factions, if national and inter-
t national disorders abound? The children of
J the world are forever lighting lamps in the
f human heart that pierce the fog of our adult
J futility and restore our confidence in God
l and in ourselves.
* It was no accident that Jesus came as a
f child. To the extent that we are successful
» in recapturing something of the innocence
J and unselfishness and faith of our own lost
? childhood will we find true joy this Christ-
J mas. For the way to the fulfillment of our
i desires must lead us —« from our own visit
\ to the manger — into paths of kindness,
• thoughtfulness, hopefulness, and helpfulness,
j THE GIFTS WE GIVE
Christmas is a time of gift-giving. . . and
, rightly so. But the true joy of Christmas is
J the free gift provided for us by the gracious-
i ness and love of God, and offered to all who
[ will receive it as little children. It should
i matter not at all how costly or showy the
• presents we exchange, so long as with each
, gift we give something of ourselves.
Our nation has been the greatest benefac-
| tor in the history of the world. Yet we have
l received scant credit for the sacrifices we
| have made and are making to feed the hun-
, gry, educate the young, and help build up
J the economies of underdeveloped countries.
In only one program have we made rapid,
[ and what promises to be good, over-all prog-
, ress, — the Peace Corps. Could it be that the
J instant success of this particular program
derives from the fact that through it we
J have made more of a personal effort to
} teach, to serve, to lift? This gift of ourselves
j to God and to each other is the essence of
( the Christmas Spirit, the best guarantee of
j our own tranquility of mind, and the way to
[ prosperity and peace in our troubled world.
lose Christmas. If they are away from
family and friends, if they are in a
land foreign to them, if they are not
remembered during the holiday sea
son, they can not savor their Christ
mas.
But the story below tells the true
beauty of Christmas. It should bring
comfort and hope and enlightenment
to everyone, whether he is blessed
to be with his family or whether he
is in a shallow foxhole in Vietnam.
This is the true miracle of Christ
mas:
ST. LUKE 2:1-14, Kings James Ver
sion
“And it came to pass in those days
that there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus, that all the world
should be taxed.
“(And this taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor of
Syria).
“And all went to be taxed, every
one into his own city.
“And Joseph also went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth,
into Judea, unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem; (because
«he was of the house and lineage of
David.
“To be taxed with Mary his espous
ed wife, being great with child.
“And so it was, that, while they
were there, the days were accomplish
ed that she should be delivered.
“And she brought forth her first
bom son, and wrapped him in swad
dling clothes, and laid him in a man
ger; because there was no room for
them in the inn.
“And there were in the same coun
try shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by
night.
“And, lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of
the Lord shone round about them;
and they were sore afrajd.
“And the angel said unto them.
Fear not; for, behold, I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which shall
be to all people.
“For unto you is born this "day In
the city of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord.
“And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in
swaddling clothes, lying in the man-
ger.
“And suddenly, there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will toward
men.”
Debunkers
’re Realists
strongest men that ever liv
ed, could tear apart. Only
faith, fancy, poetry, love,
romance can push aside that
curtain and view and picture
the supernal beauty and
forever. A thousand years
from now Virginia, nay, ten
times ten thousand years
from now, he will continue to
make glad the heart of child
hood”
Christmas celebrates the
A Matter of
life and Breath
WUi
IHli
This won is being tested to sen
how well his lungs wock—whether
ho is suffering from a chronic
respiratory disease. Your Christ-
omu Seal contribution helps in
this pioneering effort.
USE CHRISTMAS SEALS
Fight Tuberculosis
Emphysema
Air Pollution
CLINTON, S. C., THURSDAY, DEC. 21, 1967
(Elmtott (Htjnmirlp
DONNY WILDER, Editor and PubUsher
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By DR. HERBERT SPAUGB
The debunkers are back
with us. They call them
selves realists. They are pull
ing literature and entertain
ment down into the gutter.
Even-* some theologians pro
moted the “God' is dead”
movement.
They come up about once
every generation. Some of
you can recall that they
were rife prior to the Great
Depression of the thirties.
Then, of course, they debunk
Santa Claus. These learned
brethren might well read
that classic which appeared
in the New York Sun about
the year 1893 (following the
Depression of 1892). It was
written in reply to the fol
lowing letter: “Dear Editor:
I am eight years old. Some
of my little friends say there
is no Santa Claus. Papa says,
‘If you see it in the Sun, it’s
so.’ Please tell me the
the truth; is there a Santa
Claus? Virginia O’Hanlon.”
“V i r g i n i a, your little
friends are wrong. They have
been affected by the skepti
cism of a skeptical age. They
do not believe except they
see. They think that nothing
can be which is not compre
hensible to their little minds.
“All minds, Virginia, whe
ther they be men’s or chil
dren’s, are little. In this
great universe of ours, man
is a mere insect, an ant, in
his intellect, as compared
with the boundless world
about him, as measured by
the intelligence capable of
grasping the whole of truth
and knowledge.
“Yes, Virginia, there is a
Santa Claus. He exists as
certainly as love and gener
osity and devotion exist, and
you know’ that they abound
and give to our life its high
est beauty and joy. Alas!
how dreary would be the
world if there were no Santa
Claus. It would be as dreary
as if there were no Virginias.
There would be no childish
faith then, no romance, to
make tolerable this existence.
We should have no enjoy
ment except in sense and
sight. The eternal light with
which childhood fills the
world would be extinguihsed.
“Not believe in Santa
Claus! You might as well
not believe in fairies! You
might get your papa to hire
men to watch all the chim
neys on Christmas Eve to
catch Santa Claus even if they
did not see Santa Claus com
ing down, what would that
prove? Nobody sees Santa
Claus but that is no sign
there is no Santa Claus.
“The most real things in
the world are those that
neither children nor men can
see. Did you ever see fairies
dancing on the lawn? Of
course not, but that’s no
proof that they are not there.
Nobody can conceive or ima
gine all the wonders there
are unseen and unseeable in
the world.
You may tear apart the
baby’s rattle and see what
makes the noise inside, but
j there is a veil covering the
I unseen world which not the
strongest man, nor even the
united strength of all the
glory beyond. Is it all real?
Oh, Virginia, in all this world | birth of christ who came t0
there is nothing else real and men what find is like.
abiding
‘No Santa Claus!
Thank
God! he lives,, and he lives p e nter shop.
show men what God is like.
And He demonstrated the
virtue of hard work in a car-
African HaU
Featured In
S. C. Museum
ROCK HILL—In an area
where fabbits and squirrels
are the most common wild,
Animals, it comes as some
what of a surprise to walk
through the York County
Children’s Nature Museum
here and find oneself sur
rounded by jackals, hysnas
and elands in an African set
ting.
In the Stans African Hall
of the museum one of the
country’s finest collections of
animals from the Dark Con
tinent is being assembled.
The collection of African
mounts already totals 82 spe
cimen and includes an eland,
gazelle, baboon, jackal, cape
buffalo and an 18-foot tall
giraffe.
While the giraffe attracts
most attention in the hall, one
of the rarest animals in the
collection is a sitatunga,
which resembles a deer. Lee
Settlemyre, museqm director,
says only two have been kill
ed during the past 14 years.
He attributes this to their
long hair, which makes them
buoyant and allows them to
stay partially submerged and
hidden from hunters.
The musem was founded in
the early 1950’s and is now
housed in a modern new
building, which was dedicat
ed October 10, 1967.
Exhibition halls are design
ed to present African, Cen
tral American, North Ameri
can and South Carolina ani
mals in settings which are
similar to their natural habi
tats. The building also has a
live animal room and future
plans include a Hall of In
dustry.
The African collection wnl
be enlarged soon with the
addition of approximately
200 birds, reptiles, monkeys,
and other specimen. They
were collected by Settlemyre s
son, Arthur, during a recent
three-month safari.
As we look back upon the scene of His Birth at this
holy time, may the glorious message that blessed the
world at the Nativity be rekindled in your heart to
brighten your life with happiness and understanding. Best
wishes for a Christmas rich in the joys of the season.
CLINTON MILLS
MANUFACTURERS OF SUPERIOR QUALITY FABRICS
PLANTS: CLINTON NO. 1-CLINTON NO. 2-LYDIA-BAILEY
SINCE MM