THE STORY OF CHRISTMAS,
"A great spiritual efficiency lies in story-telling."--FROEBEL.
Christmas Day, you knew, dear children, is Christ's day, Christ'sbirthday, and I want to tell you why we love it so much, and why we tryto make every one happy when it comes each year.
A long, long time ago--more than eighteen hundred years--the baby Christwas born on Christmas Day: a baby so wonderful and so beautiful, whogrew up to be a man so wise, so good, so patient and sweet, that, everyyear, the people who know about him love him better and better, and aremore and more glad when his birthday comes again. You see that he musthave been very good and wonderful; for people have always remembered hisbirthday, and kept it lovingly for eighteen hundred years.
He was born, long years ago, in a land far, far away across the seas.
Before the baby Christ was born, Mary, his mother, had to make a longjourney with her husband, Joseph. They made this journey to be taxedor counted; for in those days this could not be done in the town wherepeople happened to live, but they must be numbered in the place wherethey were born.
In that far-off time, the only way of traveling was on a horse, or acamel, or a good, patient donkey. Camels and horses cost a great dealof money, and Mary was very poor; so she rode on a quiet, safe donkey,while Joseph walked by her side, leading him and leaning on his stick.Mary was very young, and beautiful, I think, but Joseph was a great dealolder than she.
People dress nowadays, in those distant countries, just as they did somany years ago, so we know that Mary must have worn a long, thick dress,falling all about her in heavy folds, and that she had a soft white veilover her head and neck, and across her face. Mary lived in Nazareth, andthe journey they were making was to Bethlehem, many miles away.
They were a long time traveling, I am sure; for donkeys are slow, thoughthey are so careful, and Mary must have been very tired before they cameto the end of their journey.
They had traveled all day, and it was almost dark when they came near toBethlehem, to the town where the baby Christ was to be born. There wasthe place they were to stay,--a kind of inn, or lodging-house, but notat all like those you know about.
They have them to-day in that far-off country, just as they built themso many years ago.
It was a low, flat-roofed, stone building, with no window and only onelarge door. There were no nicely furnished bedrooms inside, and no softwhite beds for the tired travelers; there were only little places builtinto the stones of the wall, something like the berths on steamboatsnowadays, and each traveler brought his own bedding. No pretty gardenwas in front of the inn, for the road ran close to the very door, sothat its dust lay upon the doorsill. All around the house, to a high,rocky hill at the back, a heavy stone fence was built, so that thepeople and the animals inside might be kept safe.
Mary and Joseph could not get very near the inn; for the whole road infront was filled with camels and donkeys and sheep and cows, while agreat many men were going to and fro, taking care of the animals. Someof these people had come to Bethlehem to pay their taxes, as Mary andJoseph had done, and others were staying for the night, on their way toJerusalem, a large city a little further on.
The yard was filled, too, with camels and sheep; and men were lying onthe ground beside them, resting, and watching, and keeping them safe.The inn was so full and the yard was so full of people, that there wasno room for anybody else, and the keeper had to take Joseph and Marythrough the house and back to the high hill, where they found anotherplace that was used for a stable. This had only a door and a front, anddeep caves were behind, stretching far into the rocks.
This was the spot where Christ was born. Think how poor a place!--butMary was glad to be there, after all; and when the Christ-child came,he was like other babies, and had so lately come from heaven that he washappy everywhere.
There were mangers all around the cave, where the cattle and sheep werefed, and great heaps of hay and straw were lying on the floor. Then,I think, there were brown-eyed cows and oxen there, and quiet, woollysheep, and perhaps even some dogs that had come in to take care of thesheep.
And there in the cave, by and by, the wonderful baby came, and theywrapped him up and laid him in a manger.
All the stars in the sky shone brightly that night, for they knew theChrist-child was born, and the angels in heaven sang together for joy.The angels knew about the lovely child, and were glad that he had cometo help the people on earth to be good.
There lay the beautiful baby, with a manger for his bed, and oxen andsheep all sleeping quietly round him. His mother watched him and lovedhim, and by and by many people came to see him, for they had heard thata wonderful child was to be born in Bethlehem. All the people in the innvisited him, and even the shepherds left their flocks in the fields andsought the child and his mother.
But the baby was very tiny, and could not talk any more than any othertiny child, so he lay in his mother's lap, or in the manger, and onlylooked at the people. So after they had seen him and loved him, theywent away again.
After a time, when the baby had grown larger, Mary took him back toNazareth, and there he lived and grew up.
And he grew to be such a sweet, wise, loving boy, such a tender, helpfulman, and he said so many good and beautiful things, that every one lovedhim who knew him. Many of the things he said are in the Bible, you know,and a great many beautiful stories of the things he used to do while hewas on earth.
He loved little children like you very much, and often used to take themup in his arms and talk to them.
And this is the reason we love Christmas Day so much, and try to makeeverybody happy when it comes around each year. This is the reason:because Christ, who was born on Christmas Day, has helped us all to begood so many, many times, and because he was the best Christmas presentthe great world ever had!