The Tree of Life is the real Christmas Tree. Its underwoven roots support the cradle; its branches, overarching with many a blossom and many a cluster, form the canopy of the Heavenly Babe, the Darling of God and of man. 'The fruit thereof is for meat, the leaf thereof for medicine;' mindful of which the holy Evangelists speak of the crib as a 'manger,' that is the feeding place. 'Lo! we heard of the same at (Bethlehem) Ephrata, and found it in the Wood.'
The Gospel songs express the joy with which by the humble and simple and pure-hearted this Plant of Renown is discovered; this House of Bread visited. They come from the lips of a maiden who is a mother, of an ancient who is a child, of a priest who is a prophet. When such fountains of song are unsealed, the music belongs rather to heaven than to earth.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] See Isaiah xix. 19-25.
[10] Psalm cix. 4: 'I am prayer' is the literal translation.—Kay.
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