Newspapers / The Roanoke Beacon and … / Dec. 22, 1911, edition 1 / Page 2
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VULETIDE W THE BIROib HALL :: iRRJVylL OF THE SHEPHERDS : S UNGEET the prophet held up his hand. A sudden cry smote the chil ly air, the red edge of the sun creeping behind the snow cap of Everest seemed to the mul titude a reflection on the scythe which Gungeet held in his hand, reddened with the blood of the Ranee's first born, which had been offered as a propitiatory sacrifice to the Sun God. It was mid-winter the winter solstice and the sun rays were so feeble that the sun worshippers were sore afraid that unless the blood rr o mvoi nrtnnn woo clipd fnr jihsorntinn bv I 1 UJ Ul Ulbw . - their weakening god the world would pass into darkness and all would die. As the sun rose higher in the heavens the multitude of worshippers exchanged gifts, and on the crags and high places of the Mount of Ghoom, which is above Darjiling, in the Hima layas, goats were sacrificed to the sun god, who was hailed by the multitude as a new born babe, refreshed and renewed with the blood of their princeling offering. For thousands of years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth this drama was enacted In the mountains of India and the tradition was carried by the merchants into. Persia, Egypt and China to become later part of the Pagan saturnalia of the Romans and the Druids. For two centuries or the cnristian era mere Is no indisputable evidence or any celebration of Christ's birth. The primitive Christians, like sensible opportunists, made It the festival of the "Light of All Nations," borrowing from the east, the birthplace of all religions, the birthday of the sun god, which was held by the Romans (on the day when light got the betetr of darkness, and the days began to get longer) as a great festival, in celebration of "the birthday of the unconquered sun." The first historical account of the celebra tion of Christmas day is connected with the persecutor. Dioclletian, who. when holding court at Nicomedia, about 300 A. D., on learn ing that a multitude of Christians were as sembled In the city to celebrate the birthday of Jesus, ordered the church doors to be clos ed and the building to be set ablaze, so that all the worshippers perished in the flames. Diocletian was possessed of the most terrible of all heresies, that moral forces can be put down by physical ones, Christianity by fire and swerd, but his successor, Jylian, In the next generation, when Diocletian had done his worst, and done it thoroughly, had to admit that all was in vain. He may not, in fact, have said, "Thou hast conquered, Oh, Gali lean!" though Julian proved it. Early in the thirteenth century the Chris tian church sanctioned feasting on Christmas day by removing the obligation of observing abstinence whenever that festival should fall on a Friday. By abstinence is meant that flesh meat shall not be indulged in, and as every Friday throughout the year was a day specially marked for such mortification, Christ- is must, Indeed, have been somewhat cheer- je8gfjnen me ieasi was in reamy more tnan a fast by'eaBon ' 'ts occurrence on a Friday. That, howJei is quite forgotten by present- day observef&iana Ior close on vou years Christmas day has been observed by even the most piously inclined as the occasion for in dulging in good cheer. In "Merry England" the festival is made a thoroughly enjoyable one, though the days have changed somewhat since Dickens rode through the streets of London and told of the scenes of Christmas joy he witnessed in the lamplit streets. Nowadays electricity has tak en the place of gas and lamplight, and in stead of the slow, wheezy horse vehicles of Dickens' day the streets of Merry England are traversed by electric and oil motor car riages. But the good, old-fashioned dinner pre vails, and from king to commoner all go to the place each calls home to eat well-mads soup, goose or turkey, potatoes, sprotfts. mince pies and Christmas pudding. "Stille Nache, heilige nacht," has been sung in Germany for many untold Christmases be neath the illuminated pine tree, and its popu lation of sixty-five millions will enjoy their gingerbread and honey cakes In Denmark Christmas is a most important and beautiful festival. Despite all other changes, it preserves Its old character, and la universally celebrated among rich and poor. In Russia the spirit of St. Nicholas is ram pant, and the streets of St. Petersburg, Mos cow, Riga and other centers are alive with silvery-belled drochas, all bearing happy mus covites exchanging calls and bearing each oth er presents, which are opened at sweet-laden tables shrouded In vapor from the steaming samovers. In New York City there will be millions of conspiracies to surprise the children, for with our polyglot peoples no nation realizes to the extent the United States does the inner mean ing for the world of the festivals of the Christ child. Here, more than anywhere else in the world, the spirit of Christmas invites our own happiness in seeking that of others, and in the accomplishment of good will toward men we know we yearly replant the rose that blossomed In the snow of the first Christmas night. HE Idea of a new coming of Christ today is an influence, if not an obsession with count less millions of people in all , parts of the world. With all Christians it Is a thrilling thought, or a devout wish. With some it is a faith and a prophecy. The Advent Ists, under their various de nominations Evangelical Ad vent Christians, Seventh Day, Life and Advent Union and others look for Christ's re turn at a nearly date within the present age, according to the same Hebrew prophecies which forecast his birth at Bethlehem of Judea. There are in tba United States alone 2,544 Adventist churches, with an aggregate of 100,000 communicants. The Jews expect a Messiah yet to come. The Behaists, or "Truth-Knowers," whose cult, a modern offshoot of Mohammedanism, Jias made remarkable headway in Europe and America during the past decade or two, be lieve that the re-incarnation of the Master has already taken place in our time. Their priests and propagandists declare it their mission to make known to the world the glad tidings that Beha Ullah, the head of their faith, who dwells in the flesh at Acre in Syria, is none other than Jesus Christ re-incarnated and come again to earth in fulfillment of the an cient prophecies. The Theosophists, whose "Universal Broth erhood" was founded by Mme. Blavatsky in 1875, with headquarters at Adyar, Madras, In dia, believe the incarnate appearance of Christ in this world to be Imminent at the present moment. They believe that the Jesus of our faith, even now incarnate but not manifested to man, will take a new body, manifest himself visibly and lead mankind in the evolution of a' higher civilization, an epoch of Christian so cialism in which wisdom and compassion will make a true brotherhood of man at a time A ChristmasVbleau. Many years ago. says an oldlfSend, there lived in a mysterious region a baiiickof Chris tian monks whose life duty it was t5sP'ant eeeds and grow crops of toys for Santa laus to distribute. These monks dressed in wtlit gowns and wore Christmas wreaths about thel! heads. From this tradition a Christmas pantomime v could be devised. A clever person can make v many additions. Arrange stage as a beautiful garden, and place small -Christmas trees here and there. On these trees dolls and other toys appear to be growing. While music Is played softly the curtain rises, disclosing the monks working in the garden. In the distance is heard the muffled sound of sleigh bells. Santa Claus enters, bows reverently to the monks, shows his empty pack, which they slowly fill from the laden trees. The music continues, the curtain falls, then rises, disclosing Santa Claus only, who distrib utes the gifts to the children of the Sunday achool. The monks can be personated by older boys or girl. Hi there, Mister Santa Claus, Hiking through the sky, Careful lest you break the laws Speeding swiftly by. Better give your car a rest In its onward flight, Come down here and be my guest Just for Christmas night. I'll show you a thing or two You'll do well to see; Little people not a few Waiting wistfully; Hoping you will not forget Tbey are waiting there. Doomed, I fear, but to regret In the frosty air. Cheery lot of little souls You would find them all If, in seeking out your goals, You should pause to call. -There they stand all in a row. Wondering what's the hitch; Wondering why it is you go Solely 'mongst the rich. They would deem at bit of cheer, Tiny though it be. Sign that, when the Yule is here With its songs of glee. They were not forgotten; sign Sent them from above They were heirs to a divine Thoughtfulness and Love. Leave the wealthy to their own! They don't need your care. Let your loving smile atone For the cupboard bare. Seek the children of the poor, Make their need your cause, And you'll make your wreaths secufe. Mister Santa Claus, John Kendrlck Bangs in Harper's Weekly. r within the lives of the younger people of the present generation. . The above enumeration includes only a lew of the world-wide sects and creeds that either look for a new birth of Christ, or believe that such a reincarnation has already, and recently, taken place. The idea, mire or less definitely formulated, animates an Incalculable number of smaller communities and individuals not taken account of here. ' . And it is a significant fact that, however widely at variance their theories and grounds of faith may be, all these millions of Advent ists meet on common ground in the popular belief that this present age reproduces, in the world's cycles, the Augustan age of old Rome, with Its over-ripe and decadent civilization and accompanying spiritual unrest. The earthly scene is set for some new and awesome act in the drama of Eternity. The Scriptures of old and the signs of the times today,, thoughtful men point out, alike warn us that the hour of fate is at hand. Christians have done their best and their worst to the Church of God for now over eight een centuries, and she stands today a mournful exhibition of their devastating work. Broken and divided into hundreds of warring sects, she no longer hears the voice that inspired the early church. Truly it is time to expect that the Lord will himself arise and come to re build the spiritual ZIon and restore the waste places of the spiritual Jerusalem. Although we "know not the day or the hour," yet the time when the Lord's coming is at hand it not altogether hidden from us. .The signs which are to precede and usher in his coming are plainly and abundantly set forth in Scripture, and we are exhorted to watch for them and know that the time is near. All these pre dicted signs in the social, moral, political, civil, ecclesiastical and spiritual spheres, declare the Adventists, are now either fulfilled or ful filling. All the ecclesiastical prophecies of Christ's second coming rest on the same foundation namely, the fulfillment of previous Biblical prophecies and the assumption that this In dicates further fulfillments yet to come. It Is claimed that inasmuch as the birth of Christ was foretold (Isaiah vli., 14), and that the birth should take place in Bethlehem of Judea (Micah v., 2), and the several other prophe cies concerning a, Messiah (Isaiah Hi!., 8-9; Psalms xyi., 10), all came to pass precisely at the time and in the manner prescribed, that the fourth prophecy, relating to the second ap pearance of the Messiah, demands expectant belief. . In the New Testament the third and fourth chapters of Second Timothy and the twenty-, fourth of St. Matthew are regarded by many as forecasting the present condition of Chris tendom. We are living in the divided state of the decadent Roman Empire. - The nations are torn with strife and contention, and are supporting millions of men in arms in antici pation of vast wars in the near future. Such was the condition of the world at the time of Christ's first coming. "In the last days, peril ous times shall come;" men were to depart from the faith and go in devious . ways. Atheism, infidelity, socialism and anarchy have risen in a great wave that is eating at the very foundations of our religious, political and so cial life. In the way of physical portents it is esti mated that there have been more earthquakes within the last century or so than in all pre vious times In the recorded history of the world. What do these signs of the times, heavenly and earthly phenomena, political and religious upheavals, mean? To the Adventhfts they mean that Christ is coming again, and soon. ' The Mistletoe. Some of the names by which this plant was called are "misselden," or more commonly, "missel." This plant was venerated by the pagans of Greece and Rome. There is reference to the mistletoe in the works of Virgil, in the Ed da and in Celtic legends. Druids collected it with great solemnity. The Prince of Druids cut it with a golden sicKie. . r toe which grew up on the oak trees. t ? A Ftji;iiAL HEAuim kJlrUL It is gratifying to note that the bill for the creation of a t ederal health board will not be allowed to pass with out a protest. Reports of organized risistance come from all parts of the country, and it may be that the oppo sition will soon, be sufficiently solidi fied to defeat a project that promise infinite mischief for the community, and suffering and injustice for. the in dividual. The proposal is basedupon those specious claims that are notoriously hard to controvert. If a federal health board were to confine its activities to the promulgation of salutary advice upon hygienic matters, to the abate ment of quackery, and to the purity of drugs, it might be possible to say much in its favor, although it would still be difficult to say that such ait organization is needed. But we know that it will attempt to do far more than this, seejng-that its adherents have loudly proclaimed their Inten tions. Indeed, there is no secrecy about them. It is confidently expected that the board will consist of advo cates of one school of medicine only and that the methods of that school will be not only recommended, but enforced upon the nation. Indeed a board that was In any way representa tive of the medical profession as a whole would he stultified by its own disagreements. Outside the domain, of simple hygiene, for which we need no federal board at all, there is no single point of medical practice upoa which allopaths, homeopaths, eclectics and osteopaths could be in unison. Any board that could be devised by the wit of man must be composed of representatives of one "school only, and this means that all other schools are . branded as of an inferior caste, even though nothing worse happened to them. And something worse would happen to them. If we are to establish a Bchool of medicine, if we are to as sert that the government of the Unit ed States favors one variety of prac tice more than others, why not estab lish alBo a sect ol religion and be stow special authorities upon Bap tists, Methodists and Episcopalians? An established school . of religious conjecture seems somewhat less ob jectionable than an established sect of pseudo-6cientIflc conjecture. Those who suppose that a federal board of health would have no concern with individual rights are likely to find themselves undeceived. It is for the purpose of interfering with indi vidual rights that the proposal has been made. We need no special knowledge of conditions to be aware that what may be called unorthodox methods of healing have made sad in roads into the orthodox. Homeopathy claims a vast 'number of adherents who are just as well educated and just as Intelligent as those who adhere to the older school. Osteopathy, eclecti cism, and half a dozen other methods of practice are certainly not losing ground. Beyond them Is the vast and Increasing army of those who may be classed under the general and vague name of mental healers. Those who are addicted to any of these forms of unorthodoxy need have no doubt as to the purposes of the federal health board. Those purposes are to make it difficult for them to follow ' their particular fads and fancies, to lead them, and if necessary to drive them, from medical unorthodnx7 to medical oriJodoxy. , Now the Argonaut holds no brief for any of the excesses and the super stitions connected with the care of the body In which this age is so rife. - But it does feel concerned for the preser vation of human liberty and for the rights of the individual to doctor him self In any way he pleases so long as he does not indubitably threaten the health of the community. He may take large doses or small ones, or no doses at all; he may be massaged. anointecLwith oil, or prayed over, just as the whim of the moment may dic tate, and probably it makes no par ticle of difference which he does. But he has the right" 1 choose, just as he chooses the color of his necktie or the character of his underclothing. It is not a matter in which any wise gov ernment will seek to interfere. This is precisely the liberty that the health board intends to take from' him. Orthodox medicine, conscious of its losses, is trying to buttress itself by federal statute, to exalt allopathy to the status of a privileged caste, and to create an established school ot medicine just as some other countries have allowed themselves to create an established school of religion. It is for the common sense of the commu nity to rebuke that effort and to re pel an unwarranted invasion upon ele mentary human . rights. San . Fraitr Cisco Argonaut. - A Dralrf of the Company. On his way home from the theater, wnere he had seen a performance of "Othello," Bobby was unusually quiet. "Didn't you enjoy the play," his grandfather asked ' last. "Oh, yes. very much," replied Bobby. "But. grandpapa, there's one thing t don't quite understand. Does th. black man kill a lady every nightT Youth's Companion. Natural Deduction.: "Papa, are lawyers always bad-tempered?" "No, daughter; why do you ask that?" - "Because I read so much in the p- rs about their cross-examinations.'' J The white berries which bring a blush to t! fortunate maiden's cheek, give the quick J mirer the right to kiss any person caught unuer8 the mistletoe bough. Its charm is against the vila of a lonely, single life. Kindred Spirits. LadyT Bald Plodding Pete, "1 alat! a square meal in two days." VelL" said the resolute wornso as she turned the dog loose, "neither, has Towser, so I know you'll excust, him." - - i
The Roanoke Beacon and Washington County News (Plymouth, N.C.)
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Dec. 22, 1911, edition 1
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