December 1943
449
willing to give that, no other gift can be acceptable. I know of a little girl who saved her allowance for weeks in order to buy one day of her father’s time all for herself. “Daddy,” she said, “I’d rather have you than any other' present in the world.” Willie Schaeffer was an eighteen- year-old boy with an advanced case of leprosy. He had lived, in Baton Rouge, La., before becoming ill and had made friends with Dr. Hunter, one of the beloved pastors of the city. When he became a patient at the lep rosarium in Carville, Dr. Hunter visit ed him. Later he- asked Willie to make out a list of Christmas gifts which the patients would like. The boy made a careful canvass of the hospital to find out what each one wished, then he wrote. “Dear Dr. Hunter,” he said, “the nicest Christmas gift we could pos The Corinthian Christians first gave themselves to the Lord. Christ tells us that if we bring our gifts to the altar and our hearts are not right be-, /fore God, we first must go and be reconciled to God and to our brother, and then come and offer our gifts. It is hard for our finite minds to grasp the fact that the-. Owner of the gold and the silver of earth, and of the cattle upon a thousand hills, has also need of us; that His Father heart yearns for our fellowship, longs for our friendship, needs our time. The “Krismus Gif’ ” He desires most can not be wrapped in tissues or tied with ribbons. It is a preparation of the heart to receive Him in greater full ness. Giving with Joy Those with leprosy in the beautiful colony of Cheingmai, Thailand, realize the spiritual.significance of this fact. Beginning in October, they count the days off one by one until Christmas. Every dingy wooden building is cov ered with a coat of shining whitewash. Every brick building is retinted with a mixture of lime and yellow earth. The trees are trimmed, the hedges are clipped, the roads are worked, and the paths are swept. By the first of December, the whole camp is immaculately clean. From then on everybody is engaged in put ting on the finishing touches. The sibly think of would be just to have you and Mrs. Hunter come again to see us.”
N EVER shall I forget the Christ mas dawns of my childhood on a Southern plantation. Cuddled I would peep over the pillows into the semi-darkness to see Mammy at the open fireplace lighting the great yule logs. Soon crackling flames lit up bulging stockings, and brown wrapping papers were scattered care lessly over the floor. Outside the low window of the log farm house, soft rich voices were mur muring mysteriously. Suddenly they would unite in a chorus loud enough to awaken the sleepiest member of the household: “Krismus Gif’ Ole Miss There was always a friendly rivalry between the “white folks” and the “black folks” as to who would call Krismus Gif’ ” first, and the winners were always the recipients of the gifts. It was another case of the early birds that got the worms, but the “worms” at Christmas dawn proved to be bright *Promotional Secretary, American Mission to Lepers, New York, N. Y. Krismus Gif’ Mars’ Jimmy Krismus Gif’ Evey Body.”
bandana handkerchiefs, warm woolen mufflers, and shiny brogan shoes for the renters of the farm. Christmas to them meant showers of gifts antici pated through the year. Christmas, to all of us who are Christians, should mean gifts, too— but gifts given, not gifts received. Is it our happy custom to give gifts to thejDne whose coming into the world we celebrate? A little lad had been taught that Christmas was Christ’s birthday. In his mind, a birthday meant a frosted cake with colored tapers. Consequent ly, when he slipped down the stairs on Christmas morning to find a glit tering tree laden with gifts ¡for him, he looked about for something else which he could not find. Disappointed, his eyes filled with tears. “You said this was Jesus’ birthday,” he sobbed, “but you forgot to make Him a birthday cake.” How often do we forget, on the Saviour’s own special day, to give Him a gift! Giving Oneself We know that He would rather have the gift of ourselves than any other possible offering. In fact, until we are
deep down in a warm feather bed,
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs