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Beaton A Cjreelin
HOWARD LUMBERCOIPAHY
"ONE BOARD OR A TRAINLOAD"
J. W. Carson W. B. Badger
1900 Milledgeville Road — Augusta, Ga.
PHONE 2-0451
Sea Aon A Cjeeetin gA
RIVERSIDE
SALES COMPANY
NO. 1 — 5TH STREET
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA
* A CHRISTMAS STORY
THE BULLETIN, December 24, 1960—PAGE 1-B
And What Came Of It
By Auleen Bordeaux Eberhardi
Sea Aon A Cjrcetin
FROM
Lake View
Pharmacy, Inc.
1800 BROAD STREET
AUGUSTA, GA.
— PHONE RE. 3-4495 —
What St. Luke Really Meant
A Merry Christmas
And
—-U. v.
Best Wishes
FIRST
FEDERAL
SAVINGS AND LOAN
ASSOCIATION
Broad and Tenth • Downtown Augusta
Branch Office on Walton Way just off
15th Street
Broad
Street
At
10th
New Branch Office —
Walton Way at 15th Street
By Ivonne Yu
Imagine a strange young
couple stuck in a little
American town, with ten dol
lars to their name, a broken
down jalopy, no roof over their
heads, and 'expecting to in
crease their family any min
ute now. How did a couple
like this, but of almost 2,000
years ago, manage to prepare
themselves for the coming of
their first-born?
After having traveled four
days they arrived at Bethle
hem and found “no room in
the inn.” But the truth is—
there was no inn! The Baby
was “laid in the manger.”
Only there was no stable.
What is the reality hidden by
the literary conventions of the
Gospel?
THE CENSUS
One day around the year 6
B.C. the Roman top brass in
Judea received long expected
orders from the divine Augus
tus to contribute to the em
pire-wide census of his sub
jects.
As Judaic customs demand
ed, the count was taken ac
cording to people’s ancestral
origin.
Thus somewhere between
the end of March and the be
ginning of April of that year
tne carpenter Joseph closed up
lis workshop at Nazareth, Gal
ilee, put his young wife and a
few necessities on a donkey,
and set out to cross some 90-
odd miles to Bethlehem in
Judea.
As usually in the last days
of the rainy season, it poured,
but the hot khamsin wind be
gan announcing spring. The
tortuous roads were filled with
camel and donkey caravans.
Hundreds of foot travelers
streamed in the ancient muddy
seat of the family of old King
David. Amid chattering
crowds Mary felt her time
coming — privacy was what
she wanted above all else.
Private homes, consisting
mostly of one room, were fill
ed to the brim. Joseph’s nu
merous cousins probably could
have provided him with a
sleeping mat, but Mary longed
to be free from prying eyes . . .
On the road that leads from
Jerusalem to Egypt there
stood what St. Luke calls the
“inn” — really only a cara
vansary — a walled-in court
with one entrance and a few
partitions inside forming one
common room and two al
coves. The place was filled
with irritable camels and ass
es. People slept on the ground,
ate, sang, prayed, bickered and
bargained. The owner, himself
squeezed among his custom
ers’ mounts for the. night, per
haps only waved desperately
at the inquiring Joseph.
Night was falling. Maybe
street urchins seeking excite
ment and profit among so
many strangers told the con
fused couple about the lime
stone caves in the nearby hills.
Shepherds, cows, asses and
sheep would take refuge in
these “stables” against cold
and rain.
. . . Joseph cleared the floor
of one of the little grottoes,
made a bed of straw for Mary,
put out the provisions by the
manger hanging on the wall.
Here was quiet and privacy!
They waited . . .
“And she brought forth her
firstborn Son, and wrapped
him in swaddling clothes, and
laid him in a manger . . .”
(Luke 2:7). Night moved slow
ly toward dawn.
With characistic subtlety St.
Luke tells us: “There were
shepherds in the sam& district
living in the fields and keep
ing watch over their flock by
night.” (Luke 2:8).
DESERT NOMADS
As today, so then, large
herds of big, dusty sheep and
goats grazed on the undulating
plain three miles east of Beth
lehem ail year round. Tending
them were families of desert
nomads who passed the worst
of the winter in the grottoes,
tne rest of their lives in the
bushes. They were strong,
smelly, ignorant, thieving and
dangerous.
Armed with clubs, the shep
herds would equally massacre
wolves and vagrants. These
“people of the land” inspired
Rabbi Eleazar (sometime be
fore A.D. 124) to exclaim: “If
It was a day in mid-Decem
ber, 1942.
The great stores of our city
were jammed with shoppers
feverishly picking out gifts.
Occasionally, someone would
take time to exclaim over the
elaborate decorations. This
year, there was Santa Claus,
driving his sleigh and calling
to his reindeers, suspended
from the ceiling.
In niches, around the walls
were brownies and elves, busy
with toy-making under the
supervision of Kris and Tante
Kringle. Gigantic rubber ani
mals clung to the balconies.
Silver trees, tinsel and Christ
mas trappings were on every
counter and m every corner.
A CHILD'S QUESTION
I felt a tug at my coat.
“Where is the Christ Child?”
asked my five-year-old son.
I couldn’t get his words out
of my mind. During the
Christmas season I thought —
many times — of what he had
said. Where was the Christ
Child in our city’s Christmas?
Of course we had a crib in
our home, right under the
Christmas tree. And there was
a large crib in our church. But
there were no religious dis
plays in our store windows;
there were no indications any
where, publicly, that Christ
mas was the Christ Child’s
birthday.
That evening, our sons ask
ed some neighbor children to
come to see our crib. Many of
them had never looked at a
crib close up before. Several
youngsters sat down on the
floor and began to arrange the
animals and the figures of the
Holy Family and the shep
herds and the kings.
“Please tell us the Christ
mas story, Mather?” our sons
asked.
So I went into the living
room and began a procedure
that went on, every afternoon,
until Christmas Eve. The chil
dren soon knew it by heart;
they never let me leave out
any of the story, which went
something like this:
THE STORY BEGINS . .
Nearly 20 centuries ago, a
Roman Emperor named Caesar
Augustus, decided to count all
the people over whom he
ruled.
He ordered all men and
women to go to the city where
they were born, so their names
could be written in great
books.
A carpenter named Joseph
lived, with his wife, Mary, in
Nazareth. But they had to be
enrolled at a far-away place
called Bethlehem.
They were poor people. The
journey would be costly. And
Mary was going to have a
baby very soon. Yet they
dared not disobey the Em
peror.
Now, Mary had a wonderful
secret. Months before, an An
gel, in shining white and gold
robes, had appeared to her.
He told her that he was the
Angel Gabriel and that her
Son would be the Saviour of
the world.
Joseph loved Mary dearly.
He had sold many things to
get food and lodging money
for the journey. But most of
all, wanted to buy a donkey
on which she could ride.
He had nothing left to sell
except a little chair which he
had made for Mary’s baby. It
was of perfect cedar wood, and
polished until it shone.
On the day before they were
to leave for Bethlehem, Joseph
realized that Mary could not
travel on foot. He had to find
a donkey.
So, he finally took the little
chair to the market place
where many animals were be
ing sold.
There were fat donkeys,
thin donkeys, rough and dirty
donkeys. All were too costly,
If Joseph bought even the
cheapest, he would not have
enough money for the trip. He
turned sadly away.
Then a man grasped Jos
eph’s arm.
“I will trade you a donkey
(Continued on Page 6-B)
ioc-
and
ef-
of
:ors
the
;w-
eve
Prayer To The Holy Family
By Most Rev. Peter W. Bartholome, D.D.
O God, who in Thy Divine .Wisdom and solicitude
for mankind, didst institute marriage for the continua
tion of the human race and for the mutual earthly and
eternal happiness of men and women, deign to bestow
Tny divine blessing on the homes of our beloved country.
Give to the manhood of the nation, who share in
Thy Divine Fatherhood, a fuller understanding of the
dignity and responsibility of tneir calling. MaKe them
caret ui providers, gentle protectors, and shining exam-
pits or emnsuan virtue in their homes.
Give to me women ot America a true realization of
the uignity and purpose ot motnerhood; let tne beauti
ful example ot Tny most noiy Motner inspire them with
a deep loyalty ana constant devotion to tneir homes.
wray tne life of Tny Divine bon inspire a spirit of
love, respect and obedience in the souls of our cnildren.
Grant tnat tattlers, mothers and children may have
charity, which is the bond of perfection. May the peace
ot Christ reign in their hearts and homes so that, instruct
ed by the example of Thy Holy Family, they may be
received by Thee into their eternal home, through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
its
iw-
im-
the
ted
hes
to
ted
leir
i r as
in-
ind
ss-
ich
s a
'ed
ip-
WHITE S STILL HAS
GIFTS A - PLENTY
MORE THAN ANY OTHER STORE
4„ •* ■ < <
we (Pharisees) were not neces
sary to them for trade, they
would murder us.”
GEORGIA
POWER COMPANY
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA
The angelic apparition in the
night frightened a few solitary
shepherds. But they were sim
ple folk, reared in the old Is
raelite dream of the coming of
the Messias. So when the Mes
senger pointed to the well-
known caves, not to Herod’s
palace seven miles, north, they
hurried to Bethlehem with ex
citement and anxiety.
And they found Him. Hav
ing nothing to give to the
Mother or the Babe, they mar
velled at the story told them
by Mary and Joseph, throw
ing up their arms and kneel
ing down to see the Boy bet
ter.
“And all who heard mar
velled at the things told them
by the shepherds” (Luke 2:18),
who, after seeing and listen
ing, scattered among their
families and other shepherds
on the watch in the night.
-Ax-,-
From
The Bank Of Augusta
4i
INTEREST PAID
o
ON SAVINGS
AND
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SPECIAL CHECKING ACCOUNTS
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PRIVATE BANK
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Augusta, Georgia