THE LESSON—That the true Christmas spirit is that which causes us to remember the needy always, whether their need be for the necessities of life or for the love of a real friend.
Too many of us are inclined to shower our gifts and our good wishes upon the needy at the glad Christmas season, and then neglect this great field of service throughout another twelve-month period.
The Talk.
"As we go out upon the street today everybody seems to be happy and full of laughter and good cheer. People who usually pass us by without speaking at all or who merely nod without as much as a smile, act today as if they knew us very well; they smile real widely and say 'Merry Christmas!' just as heartily as they know how, and we respond to the greeting with a 'Same to you!' with an inner feeling of friendliness that somehow surprises us. It is a time when nearly every heart is warmed, and we find our greatest joy in seeing how happy we can make other folks. In every home where children are to be found—and there the Christmas spirit is the merriest—we see the stocking all hung in a row, and we are just as anxious to fill them as the owners are to have them filled. [Draw the three stockings, completing [Fig. 9].]
"Here they are. And when Susie and Johnnie and little Bob come scrambling downstairs on Christmas morning their eyes sparkle with delight and our hearts warm with Christmas gladness as we join in their merriment.
"But there are other homes. And other stockings—stockings not so warm, not so good—stockings that are darned and patched and worn like this. [With broad side of black crayon change the stockings of [Fig. 9] to resemble those of [Fig. 10].] In the atmosphere of Christmas joy in our own comfortable homes, do we sometimes over-look the boys and girls in the poorer homes who won't have much of a Christmas unless we fill these poor, patched little stockings with gifts to show that someone cares? I don't believe there is a boy or a girl here who is selfish enough to refuse to do such a little thing to bring a glad Christmas into a poor home. All we need is to be told where to go and what to do. [Doubtless you will have planned a way for the children to give remembrances to the poor; this may be presented in a word at this time, reserving the details for the close.]