The sun. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1937-1972, December 24, 1964, Image 20
SECTION C — PAGE FOUR
THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY, SOUTH CAROLINA
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1964
ARE YOU
LISTENING?
Christmas is for everyone, I
know, but somehow I feel that it
has an extra special meaning: for
small towns. Certainly it is “good
news which shall be for all peo
ple”, but if anyone should under
stand and appreciate Christmas,
it should be the folks in a small
town.
The city dweller rides the public
bus to work, to school, and to al
most any other event he attends.
He may belong to a church many
miles away, and visiting with his
friends is almost an impossibility.
When Christmas comes to them
they hurry through the hustle of
the streets' and the busy depart
ment stores; they fight their way
through the crowds to complete
their shopping as early as poss
ible, but the spirit of Christ does
not prevail.
At Christmas we sing a beau
tiful old carol that says, “O little
town of Bethlehem, how still we
see thee lie”, and we are reminded
that our Lord was born in a small
town. The prophets of old fore
told that the Saviour of the world
would come from the small town
of Bethlehem. The greatest gift
the world has ever known came
from a small town. The pages of
history reveal that many other
small towns have made their con
tributions. Louis Pasteur, Martin
Luther, John Wesley, George Tru-
ett, and many others came out of
small towns and tiny villages to
add greatly to the value of our
world.
This can only happen when the
small town provides the proper
atmosphere and environment for
its children. If the small town al
lows sin and crime to prevail with
out raising its voice, then they
can expect their children to grow
up and compromise to these for
ces. If the small town goes along
week after week and never makes
any improvements, they can ex
pect their children to grow up to
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HEARTFELT
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GoodtOisfies
may the Qliristmas story inspire each
hearers heart to see in everything
§od’s gracious goodness ...to find
reward in giving...to he wealthier for sharing
to become as little children, for of such is Heaven’s kingdom.
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be complacent and happy with
things as they are and provide no
better for the future. But when
the small town takes a stand for
right and puts down the forces of
evil it will produce an atmosphere
out of which can come servants
dedicated to the services of God.
This Christmas let us give our
children more than toys and cloth
ing and the pleasures of this life.
This Christmas let’s give our chil
dren a better knowledge of Christ.
Are you listening?
Who Started
Holiday Toast?
Whether with egg nog, coffee
or whatever, nearly everyone
offers a toast to the New Year.
Just who started the custom of
offering a “toast” is open to ques
tion.
I We do know however, that the
ancients indulged in the custom
of celebrating a fine'harvest or a
fine hunt with a “toast”, although
the word itself goes back only
to the 17th century when it was
English custom to place a bit of
toasted bread in a cup of wine.
The “broken glass” toast, or
the habit of breaking the glass
after the toast was made, origin*
ated with the military practice
of offering a toast to the queen
and throwing the glass into the
fireplace. We can speculate that
breaking the glass prevented
someone unlucky from spoiling
the wish for good health by
drinking from the same glass.
UNIQUE CALENDAR
The Moslem calendar is unique
in that the twelve months of
the year begin with the approxi
mate new moon without any in
tercalculation to keep them
geared to the seasonal equinoxes.
Thus the months, and New Years,
too — retrograde through the
entire year in about 33 Yu years.
New Year Customs
Many In Japan
The most popular illustrations
on Japanese'Christmas cards are
of the stork and the turtle. These
represent the wish for a long
and healthy life, apparently, as
the stork is supposed to live 1,000
years and the turtle said to live
for 10,000 years.
Also popular are illustrations
of the Seven Gods of Good For
tune and the Pine tree, which
symbolizes good fortune.
Most Japanese merchants send
cards to their customers.
It is also traditional for bells to
welcome the Japanese New Year.
The bells ring out 108 times on
New Year’s Eve, reminding the
people of the 108 commandments
of Buddha.
One interesting old Japanese
custom is the spreading of
parched beans about the house, in
the belief that such drives away
evil spirits and invites good luck
to enter the household.
DINNER
DANCE THE CAROL
Researchers say that the ear
ly English carol was a poem
suitable for singing, was
danced as well as sung, and
many times related to some
popular subject of the day as
much 1 as to the Christmas
theme. The word carol, it is
said, stems from the French
word *carole f which means a
round dance.
Christmas traditions have a
way of going on and on. In the
city of Wichita, Kansas, in the
year 1905, Sam Amidon, a local
lawyer, buying his paper one
wintry Christmas Eve, sponta
neously treated a young news
vendor to a new pair of shoes.
Learning the youngster had
no family, the lawyer treated
him—and several of his buddies
—to a Christmas dinner they
otherwise would have missed.
The annual Christmas din
ners became a tradition. They
eventually were served in the
local Shrine club and Amidon
enlisted the aid of other promi
nent citizens.
Amidon died in 1925, but the
Christmas dinners were con
tinued by his wife. When she
died, ten years later, a trust
fund was set up to see that they
continued, a fitting memorial
to one man’s generosity and
kindness.
There aren’t as many home
less newsboys today as there
were back in 1905, but, through
the trust fund, administered by
a local bank, and with the help
of the Salvation Army, the leg
acy of the Christmas dinner for
the needy is still a tradition in
Wichita.
Take Happy
Outlook For
A Good Year.
Thinking about that New Year
resolution, or whether or not to
make any promises for 1965?
Why not resolve, simply, to
try to make it a happy year for
yourself and for those with whom
you come in contact.
Begin by making an effort to
know yourself better. Sit down
for a moment and think about
the things you like about your
self and the things you would
like to change.
Look for Good
Think about the people about
you -- your family, your friends.
Consider their gobd points and
consider as well the things about
them that displease you. Ask
yourself why this is so, and what
can be done about it.
Promise yourself to make an
effort in the year ahead to be
understanding of the problems of
others, to think about the other
fellow as well as yourself. Some
times, if we just make an effort
to put ourselves in the other fel
low’s shoes, we get a better un
derstanding of why he does cer
tain things or acts a certain way.
Resolve
Resolve, in the months ahead,
to do the things you like to do.
Spend more time pursuing a fa
vorite hobby, whether it be read
ing, woodworking, or what-have-
you.
Make an effort to change the
things you don’t like — and the
best starting point is to change
the things about yourself that
you know should be changed.
And — learn to live with the
things that you cannot change.
Be realistic. Accept what must be,
and make the best of everything.
mm
WE OFFER
The giving of gifts is an in
dispensable part of the Christ
mas observance. The Wise Men
and the shepherds set the pat
tern when they came to Bethle
hem with presents for the child
Jesus. Their gifts, no more than
each could afford, were pre
sented with humble sincerity.
Let us not therefore consider
Christmas as a time for u the
exchange of gifts.’* If we offer
a present to someone because
we know or think they will offer
one to us, we are not giving a
gift in the true sense. And we
destroy the significance of gift
giving when we feel obligated
to give to each individual some
thing that is better or more ex
pensive than that which we re
ceive from them.
Gift-giving is in the spirit of
Christmas. It is sharing with
others. It is remembering loved
ones and fribnds. It is the re
membrance—not the cost of the
gift—that makes it worthwhile.
ir< --ia.
:
TWIN DOLLS . . . After girl
dolls came boy dolls and now,
naturally, twin dolls have made
their appearance. The 15-inch
dolls are available separately, of
course, but as a pair they can
enjoy their own teeter-totter.
They talk, too, with a vocabulary
of 11 baby phrases.
mm
FIRES AND FLIES ... There’s
always been an affinity between
small boys and airplanes and the
modem lad is no exception. Plane
shown is a rocket-firing, cannon
nosed Airacobra. It flashes a navi
gation light to warn approaching
aircraft, fires rockets from under
its wings.
Way the Christmas Star
shine anew within your heart,
with hope rekindled.
Lominack’s Hardware
W. H. LOMINACK KIRBY LOMINACK
FOREST LOMINACK
J. W. Longshore Ida D. Underwood