PAGE 2
SPIDER
WEBBS
CHRISTMAS
TALE
Amy Webb
staff columnist
Christmas is probably one of the
best times of the year. People are
cheerful and happy. Malls are full of
busy shoppers. Moms and dads are
buying computers for Sue and CD’s for
Tim. Kids are dreaming about candy
canes and Santa Claus. It is truly a
of giving and remembrance of Christ’s
birth. This feeling should continue
throughout the year; not just on
Christmas Day. Sometimes we need to
be reminded of the sacrifices that love
ones make and their unconditional love
during the holiday season. The follow
ing story, written many years ago, is a
perfect example:
There once lived a young man and
his wife. They were poor and
Christmas was only a few days away.
Besides their love for each other, they
had two prize possessions: the young
man’s watch and the wife’s long flow
ing hair. Of course the watch was
worth lots of money, but it belonged to
his great, great grandfather and they
would starve before considering to sell
it. The husband refused to let his wife
cut her beautiful hair that dragged the
floor. One day while walking home in
the cold winter breeze, she saw a gold
chain in the window of a store. She
went into the store and just stared at
the chain. She thought of how lovely it
would look attached to her husband’s
watch. He had to have it for Christmas,
but how could she afford it? She
rushed home and counted her few
coins. It was not enough. The days
passed and it was Christmas, and she
feared the chain might be sold. She
knew what she had to do. She went to
the local wig makers’s shop. "How
much is my hair worth?" she asked.
The wig maker gave her an estimate
and it was what she needed to buy the
chain. That night the couple ate their
supper and the wife kept a bonnet on
the whole evening. After supper,
they sat by the window and gazed at
the falling snow. The husband stood
up and pulled a package from the
closet. "Merry Christmas!" he said.
She reached in her jacket pocket and
retrieved his present. They exchanged
gifts and opened them at the same
time. A tear rolled down her face when
The HilHop,Wednesday, Decembef 11, Decen
OPINIONS AND TIMEOUT
TIME It wasn’t magic, Magic "Bil
OUT!
Miriam Beliamy
guest writer
Being home for Thanksgiving
reminded me of something I had really
missed while here at college. What I
missed was having that orie person
who is a medium of Godly wisdom. At
school it is impossible not to be in
fluenced by the world and its
philosophies and teachings. It be
comes easy to lose sight of God-even
if you’re striving to understand Him bet
ter. A lot of us get wrapped up in trying
to reason everything out-trying to make
sense of some of the Christian teach
ings we’ve grown up with. Foeping on
details, we forget to center it all on
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, resur
rected and alive in us. Our God is the
God of love. He Is the perfecter of for
giveness and the owner of patience.
His wisdom points us in the direepn
we should go just when we think time
has ’’un out. God has said, "Yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with loving kindness have I
drawn thee."
The message that I want to give to
you is that what you see and hear and
are continually exposed to has an ef
fect on your performance. Philippians
4:8 is a well known scripture, and it
reads like this: "Finally, brothers,
whatever is true, whatever is ^ pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is ad-
miraWe-if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy-think about such things.
Remember these words and in this
alone you will be following what they
ask. Remember these words and
apply them to your daily activities. See
what joy God can bring you even under
the most mundane circumstances.
she saw her gift. It was a silver brush
and comb set. She had always wanted
one, but it was of no use to her now.
Her husband cried when he saw the
chain for his watch. "Why are you
crying?" he said. She answered, "I cut
and sold my hair to buy the chain for
you." Then she removed the bonnet.
He replied, "And I sold my watch to buy
the brush and comb set for you." They
stared at each other and then they
hugged. That night they took the chain
along with the brush and comb set, and
put them in a drawer. They realized
that their love was greater than any
material gift in the world. And that
Christmas is not just receiving, it is
giving. The most precious gift anyone
can give is love.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
By now, anyone who is even
remotely in tune with the national
sports scene is aware of the fact the
Earvin "Magic" Johnson, former
pointguard of the Los Angeles Lakers,
is infected with the HIV virus. There is
nothing new about that. It is an event
that has literally rocked the sports
world, sending shock waves through
most every living room in America. It is
an event that has transcended the
boundaries of age, race, and gender,
and has opened many eyes to the
reality of the AIDS epidemic that is cur
rently spreading at an alarming rate
through most every country in the
world. Seeing the impact that he, as a
sports hero, can have upon the public
awareness of this fat
is now using his profile to attract much-
needed attention to the seriousness of
this issue. With his charisma, per
sonality and public relations ability, he
will undoubtedly make a notable im
pact upon national and global aware
ness of AIDS and the HIV virus. He is
a brave man and a strong individual.
But, folks, as a nation we are evading
the real issue entirely!
Magic Johnson is a well-known,
identifiable, public icon. He is loved by
the media, and has gotten all kinds of
support in his moment of crisis. This is
all well and good, but aren’t we miss
ing, or better yet forgetting something
here? I like Magic as much as, and
probably more than, most people. He
is an asset to professional sports. But,
as he has already informed us, he didn’t
get the virus from a dirty needle or a
dentist, and that is precisely what
everyone is failing to truly notice. Be
cause Magic Johnson is Magic
Johnson, we are showering this man
with love and compassion when we
should be, and I’ll state it bluntly, ex
ploiting the fact that this guy contracted
the virus through promiscuous sexual
activity. Because Magic is so likaWe
and popular, we are failing to do justice
to the situation. The point that is being
brought out is that "it can happen to
anyone," when the point that should ac
tually be stressed is “see what happens
when you take chances?" What is the
real focus here? The man or the mis
take? It is obviously, and sadly, the
former and not the latter.
This article is not an attack upon
Magic Johnson, i am a true fan of his,
and I admire his accomplishments in
the sport of basketball. But the manner
in which we are handling this issue as
a nation is sickening. It is good that the
AIDS hotlines have been lit up since this
catastrophe, and it is good that public
awareness is growing. But are we
seeing this issue as we truly should?
Are we accentuating the fact that it was
Courtesy:
^uena Vista Disti
free-iance intercourse with, most
probably, a number of women that has
lead to this condition? Or are we simp
ly seeing this as an immortal-sports-
star-turned-victim-of-HIV needing ouf
support in return for all of the years o n Depression-era
pleasure he gave us as a profession® j. '^the East Bronx d
basketball player? In any event, ons»■ One fearless be
fact remains: Until we look past the , ^N) from Bathgati
mortality of this man as a sports legeno °Usand-to-one shoi
and see him simply for what he is - ® ,^9 of himself,
well-known person who was too ures’ new drama,
frivolous and/or careless in his „_^^/eet-wise, and
Trivoious diiu/ui odicicoo m y^ei-wis©, anci ai
relationships - then the US, and L^ing instincts, Bi
world for that matter, will never joining mobster
capitalize upon the potential that a ostim HOFFMAN
capitalize upun me "'7. .|, -"'m MUhhMAN
issue of this magnitude has for helpin^sspon {q the good
people come to terms with this ' . ^cognized and e
curable and dreaded disease. ®*6er, he starts 01
1 ’’''^9 and fii
• Phil Coley by ruthless n
“ glamorous
BRi
MAES
lariT. vi/atchful eye
from lackey
H
HILLTOP
nn-Friitnrs-ln-Chief
Michael S. Roten
Brent D. Caldwell
% in the und
^strust and su:
lyjj ® Power and co
fOfti hfy on everyth!
no ' ® niaster to sa
^ a personal r
Awards
Orr, ^ ("Kramer vs.
Screenplay by
Editorial Staff Vfv—uj
Carol Jo Howell.Xampus & 'om Stoppard
Community ; , Doct
Shelly Dunnavant...Sports & Med' u ^n 9^,^^
Kelly McElveen- .Culture & ,«as producers
Entertainment ^'stributpc
Julie Rae Justice...Endnotes
General Staff
Staff Columnists:
Amy Webb
Staff Reporters:
Andrea Deaton, Debra WhitleV,
Editing Assistants: Staff Serw
Gina Stewart Sylvia Bia'
Bill Wright
Distribution:
Rodney McRae
PC
CHA^
Faculty Advisor;
John Campbell
Vear ^'ogs Mills, M
Rrv. ^0 OV/QI- ocn
250 pc
J?y ^^0 Natio
An
*^ber31.1991
The Hilltop is the official newspaP gJdiYi entered also
Mars Hill College. The views RttiQ, ered also
presented in this paper are Yq ■
necessarily those of Mars Hill Co ; enter, send C
or of the Hilltop.
Letters for The Hilltop should be
to:
The Hilltop
P.O. Box 1143-C
Mars Hill College
Mars Hill, NC 28754
[Ti*:
National Li
l>Q Cronridg
‘Bo:
X 704-PN
Mills,
%
%
Poem shoul
l'?4*o„ldapp
3er31,11