o the other poor, if we are
rich let us be brethren to the other rich, if we are wise let us be
brethren to the other wise, if we are foolish let us be brethren to the
other foolish. Ah, that is not difficult; it is an easy task. But that
is not enough. Brotherhood is broader, thank God! Let the poor be
brethren to the rich and the rich to the poor, the wise to the ignorant,
the misguided to the well-directed, the ignorant to the wise, the
foolish to the discreet, the discreet to the foolish, the glad to the
sorrowful, the sorrowful to the glad, the servants of the Lord to the
sinners against Him!

"Then none was for a party;
Then all were for the state;
Then the great man helped the poor,
And the poor man loved the great:
Then lands were fairly portioned;
Then spoils were fairly sold:
The Romans were like brothers,
In the brave days of old."

Let us make out of the old pagan ideals present-day realities in our
hearts as we go even unto Bethlehem and look into the cradle of the
King; realities in His own nobler and better words:

"_Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those
things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead
are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And
blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me_."

Peace, goodwill toward men! Peace to men of goodwill! That is what the
angels sang. But there is nothing on earth to prevent us from making it
our human song as well. As we stand by the cradle of the Master and peer
into the manger at that which every human being loves, a baby, our
earthly differences of nationality, of rank, power, station, and
influence--things that are but the guinea's stamp upon the gold of
character and personality--fade into insignificance and become as
nothing. The little child in life notices none of these distinctions, he
marks nothing of them. Let us come as little children before Him. We may
be war-battered, sin-marked, toil-stained, care-burdened. Let us forget
it all this Christmas morning.

It was a poor place, that manger--the poorest place on earth--but it was
a place. It was somewhere. Let us give humanity even as little as a
manger. Let us not take up the Christ Child as we see Him and throw Him
out into the streets, or into no man's land. That is what we do when we
mock Him, when