a little more than your duty in the foreground; to see that your fellow-men are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life; to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness--are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and the desires of little children; to remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to try to understand what those who live in the same house with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you; to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open--are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world--stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death--and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.
And if you keep it for a day, why not always?
But you can never keep it alone.
* * * * *
TWO CHRISTMAS PRAYERS
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR THE HOME
Father of all men, look upon our family, Kneeling together before Thee, And grant us a true Christmas.
With loving heart we bless Thee: For the gift of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, For the peace He brings to human homes, For the good-will He teaches to sinful men, For the glory of Thy goodness shining in His face.
With joyful voice we praise Thee: For His lowly birth and His rest in the manger, For the pure tenderness of His mother Mary, For the fatherly care that protected Him, For the Providence that saved the Holy Child To be the Saviour of the world.
With deep desire we beseech Thee: Help us to keep His birthday truly, Help us to offer, in His name, our Christmas prayer.
From the sickness of sin and the darkness of doubt, From selfish pleasures and sullen pains, From the frost of pride and the fever of envy, God save us every one, through the blessing of Jesus.
In the health of purity and the calm of mutual trust, In the sharing of joy and the bearing of trouble, In the steady glow of love and the clear light of hope, God keep us every one, by the blessing of Jesus.
In praying and praising, in giving and receiving, In eating and drinking, in singing and making merry, In parents' gladness and in children's mirth, In dear memories of those who have departed, In good comradeship with those who are here, In kind wishes for those who are far away, In patient waiting, sweet contentment, generous cheer, God bless us every one, with the blessing of Jesus.
By remembering our kinship with all men, By well-wishing, friendly speaking and kindly doing, By cheering the downcast and adding sunshine to daylight, By welcoming strangers (poor shepherds or wise men), By keeping the music of the angels' song in this home, God help us every one to share the blessing of Jesus: In whose name we keep Christmas: And in whose words we pray together:
_Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name._ _Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven._ _Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors._ _And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:_ _For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen._
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR LONELY FOLKS
Lord God of the solitary, Look upon me in my loneliness. Since I may not keep this Christmas in the home, Send it into my heart.
Let not my sins cloud me in, But shine through them with forgiveness in the face of the child Jesus. Put me in loving remembrance of the lowly lodging in the stable of Bethlehem, The sorrows of the blessed Mary, the poverty and exile of the Prince of Peace. For
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