Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, DEC. 25, 1969
When Families Gather, It's Christmas
Through the years, the ways
0 f celebrating Christmas have
taken on many different forms.
Today’s Christmas tree is apt to
be plastic or aluminum, rather
than nature’s own fir,-spruce, or
pine. The glow of tiny beeswax
candles on a tree is only a mem
orVi replaced now by strings of
twinkling electric lights.
jolly Santa, once transported
only by reindeer-drawn sleigh,
may now arrive by helicopter or
jet plane.
\ JJ&A |f§|
May you see the
fulfillment of /jr' M,
your prayers jJL-— ; S V
BROWNING^DAIRY
J/V We’re ringing in the holiday season
/ with the best of wishes for you and yours.
/ And a hearty thank you to our faithful patrons.
Haley’s Barber Shop
C. W. Haley D. E. Barfield
CHRISTMAS
MAY EVERY JOY V
[. W7' AND BLESSING BE YOURS! \*
was*born a spirit of love and joy which has
lived for generations in the hearts
of all mankind. Happily do we recall that
spirit as we extend Season’s Greetings.
Thank you for your patronage and good will.
HODGES HARDWARE & FURNITURE
| But in spite of changes, the es
| sence of the season, the basic
j spirit of Christmas stays the
same.
Christmastide is, above all, a
t-nie for togetherness and rejoic
ing. And a modern Christmas,
just like an oldfashioned Christ
mas, calls for gatherings of fam
i y and friends, with much merri
ment, fun and feasting.
Right now in this community,
families are celebrating the holi
day with just such gatherings,
such merriment, fun and feast-
the JACKSON PROGRESS-ARGUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
ing.
Like families of yesteryear,
they celebrate with gifts and
gieens, with warmths of a glow
ing hearth and the gleam of a
lighted tree, with stockings hung
by the chimney with care and
even with candles, though these
beckon brightly from candlehold
eis rather than from the tree.
All these ways of celebrating
are part of the legend and lore
of Christmas.
Exchanging Gifts
Exchanging gifts at Christmas
is one of the most timehonored
of customs, and toys, dolls and
games for the children have al
ways ranked high on the gift list.
In the not-so-long-ago, howev
er, just one important present—
a doll for a little girl, perhaps,
and a toy accordion for her
brother—was all that youngsters
might expect at Christmas.
Though Santa is more bounti
ful nowadays, the gifts he brings
are like those of yesteryear in at
least one way. They reflect the
interests and fashions of their
times.
Dolls, yesterday and today,
dress in the favorite styles of the
moment. Toys, too, show the in
fluence of current events.
Toy racing cars, for instance,
came in with the automobile,
while today more complex types
of wheel toys take advantage of
modern technological develop
ments.
Using Greens
Use of green and garlands to
decorate for a festive season
goes back a thousand years be
fore the birth of Christ. The cus
tom began with the ancient
Egyptians.
Many of the traditions of pa
gan festivals were later merged
with the celebration of Christmas,
and evergreens, because they
stay green throughout the year,
came to be regarded as the
Christmas symbol of eternal life.
Decorating the Tree
Many ancient legends associ
ate trees with Christmas. One is
that on the first Holy Night, all
the trees of the forest blossomed
and bore fruit.
The idea of adorning the
Christmas tree with ornaments
may have started with an attempt
to create the effect of snow on
the branches. Strings of popcorn
and tufts of cotton were used.
Lighting The Tree
Martin Luther started the cus
tom of lighting the tree, legend
says.
To symbolize stars glowing
forth on a snow-filled winter’s
Weekly
Devotional
BY REV. RAY DUNAHOO
Pastor, Jackson United
Methodist Church
PRAYER FOR THE PEACE
OF THE WORLD ON
CHRISTMAS SUNDAY
Eternal Spirit, to whom all
souls belong, we lift our adora
tion and our praise to thee.
Thanks be to thee for every gift
of grace that elevates and en
lightens life. Thou who didst sur
prise the world at Bethlehem,
coming in a little babe, when
none was so expecting thee, sur
prise us with some unforeseen ar
rival of thy help today.
We need thy strengthening
presence to sustain us through
these troubled days, and to keep
night, he placed lighted candles
on his family’s traditional Christ
mas tree.
Burning the Log
Today’s fireplaces, though
smaller in scale than those of yes
teryear, symbolize at Christmas
the age-old custom of burning the
log.
The Yule log was adapted to
Christmas celebrations from the
Scandinavian practice of building
huge bonfires at the winter sol
stice. Fire represents the spring
sun, soon to return.
Hanging Stockings
St. Nicholas, so legend says,
secretly gave gifts of gold for
the dowries of poor spinsters. He
tossed the gold down a chimney
on Christmas Eve, and on occas
ion the gift landed in a stocking
hung by the fireplace to dry.
A tangerine or an orange in the
toe of a stocking has come to be
symbolic of the gifts of gold.
M /" v - :
The sounds of Santa’s sleigh- / /•. / ¥ j?
bells fill the air with m r £ mm
music, and every home is kindled E -33
with the warmth of good cheer. w
May you and your family enjoy
all the blessings of this happy holiday season. Heartfelt thanks
for your trust and support. We greatly enjoy the privilege of serving you.
W. O. BALL
DAWSON BRYANT
unspoiled the Christlike spirit of
good will amid violence and hate.
For the wisdom, courage and sym
pathy which mankind deeply
needs, we pray.
We pray for the peace of the
world. Stay the evil forces that
withstand good will and lay the
fuse which will explode another
war. For wisdom to seek peace
and pursue it, for faith and
character to use aright the pow
ers man has in his unwoi'thy
hands, we pray. To that end our
intercessions rise for the United
Nations, for all conferences seek
ing disarmament and peace, for
our nation, its president and all
who influence its policies.
For all the stricken, impov
erished, homeless, hopeless peo
ple, we intercede. Beyond our
power to see the way, drive thou
a road through these jungles and
morasses that man’s ill will and
violence have wrought. Save us in
this nation from pride and power
and from all self-complacency
deliver us. So use the too small
wisdom of our wisest leaders, and
the too partial goodness of our
best statesmanship that, nonethe
less, our children, in a more de
cent world, may rise up to call
this generation blessed.
Strengthen us to bring new
courage to those whose lives move
near our own, an unconquerable
faith that despite the bewilder
ments of this present time love
can conquer hate, peace rise tri
umphant over war, justice prove
more powerful than greed, and
the kingdoms of this world be
come the Kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ.
We pray in the spirit of Christ.
Amen.
Adapted from A Book of Pub
lic Prayers, by Harry Emerson
Fosdick, Harper and Row, pub
lishers, Copyright 1959 by Harry
Emerson Fosdick. Used by per
mission.
CITY OF JACKSON
C. B, Brown Jr., Mayor
Councilmen:
JOHN L. COLEMAN
M. L. POWELL, Clerk
RECORD YIELD
An Irwin County peanut farm
er has set the new official yield
record for peanuts in Georgia.
\ccording to agronomists with
the University of Georgia Co-ope
rative Extension Service, he is
Dewey CarmichaeL He produced
4,7(>5 pounds per acre on 19.2
acres last year to set the record.
The radiant Star of Bethlehem
shines brightly as ever, symbol of
the true meaning of Christmas . . .
Our greetings and thanks to all of you.
DAVID P. RIDGEWAY
MARTHA R. SIMS
PECAN TREE HOLES
Have you noticed neat holes in
a stright line evenly spaced on
pecan tree trunks and limbs?
These are made by the sapsucker
as he secures part of the bark for
food. He also checks the holes
later for insects, according to
horticulturists with the University
of Georgia Cooperative Extension
Service.
I
C. M. DANIEL JR.
JOHN ROBERT PULLIAM
