“GOD rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas day,”
sang the boy named Billy, a bit off key. “Billy” begged Big Sister, “please get that correctly—you’ll throw the whole choir off if you sing it that way—come to the piano and I’ll drill you until you can sing it!”
“Run along now, you’re letter perfect,” said Big Sister after a half-hour of practice, “I’m going to wrap up my gifts now, and it’s no fair peeking, either.”
“Oh, I don’t care anything about your gifts,” said Billy, “I’m going to stay right here and Somebody is going to tell me all about Christmas and why we give gifts and everything. Was it because the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus?”
“Perhaps,” said Somebody, “but it seems more likely that it grew out of the realization of God’s great gift to the world—the gifts of Love and Friendliness and Peace which He bestowed upon us in sending His only son to teach us how to live.”
“‘Peace on earth, good will toward men,’” quoted Billy softly. “That’s enough to make people happy.”
“Christmas was not always the happy time that it is now,” said Somebody. “The early Christians had rather a hard time of it.”