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THE DADE COUNTY TIMES, TRENTON, GEORGIA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1959
Snow is Nice..But It Isn’t Necessary
For A Really Meaningful White Christmas
By Rev. Bill Pickett
Have you ever stopped
think why show has
ly been associated with Christ¬
mas?
I remember visiting a cousin
mine when I was just a little
boy. It was early in the morn¬
ing of April 9th, unusually late
for snow in Tennessee. But
when we arose everything was
covered with about four inches
of beautiful white. When my
little cousin awoke amid ex¬
clamations of joy from all of us
other children and looked out
the window, her first words
were, “Oh Mother! It’s Christ¬
mas.” And so it is with most of
us, I guess. Snow naturally
makes us think of Christmas.
Christmas would not be the
same to us if we were to elimi¬
nate such songs as “White
Christmas, and “Jingle Bells,”
nor would the children be nearly
so excited if we took away Santa
Claus in his big red snow suit,
his eight reindeer and sleigh or
if we took the “snow” from
or around the base, of the tree.
It wouldn’t seem like Christmas
to us if we didn’t receive cards
with snow scenes and a house
whose chimney was sending up
curly blue smoke or some happy
is a time for counting our blessings,
for acknowledging with gratitude
the loyalty of our friends, and for
•
expressing appreciation and good
wishes that the days to come will be
happy and prosperous for you and
you:J.
Western Auto
people riding down a snow
covered lane in a “one-horse
open sleigh.”
I even knew of man in Florida
who shipped in a whole carload
of snow to cover his lawn just
so he could have a “white
Christmas.” To most of us today,
thinking of a big snow brings to
mind something of the Christ¬
mas spirit. And little could I
imagine that would make Christ
mas anymore complete than
awaking on Christmas morning
and finding everything covered
with snoy.
And yet why is it show has be¬
come so meaningful to us in our
celebration of Christmas? Each
of us knows that the first
Christmas was in a land where
snow is almost an impossibility,
where the climate is arrid,
where the average yearly tem¬
perature is nearly 70 degress.
When we really stop to think,
had it been a cold snowy night
when Jesus was born in Bethle¬
hem in a stable, it would have
been most uncomfortable.
even to speak of the danger to a
new-born baby such a
would afford. Yet almost every
one, though very few of us have
ever seen it happen, are thrilled
by the prospects of a white
Christmas.
What is this “magic spell”
that a perfectly normal oper*
tion of nature casts upon us?
And our celebration of the birth
iday of the King of kings? We
could no doubt go into a long
history, tracing back through!
the years the way snow and
Christmas have been connected.
No doubt it would lead us to
Europe and the birthplace of a
kindly old saint, Saint Nicholas,
who lived in a cold, cold climate
but who, out of the warmth of
his heart and through the spirit
of the birthday of Jesus, always
tried to give good things to
those in need at Christmas¬
time. It would no doubt lead to
the story of the first Christmas
tree and how the people went
out into the snowy wood, cut it
down and brought it home toget
her around in the spirit of shar¬
ing gifts one with another. I
guess we could say snow was'
Uiandlea to us at a traditional
way to picture Christmas. But
to me the spell it casts over us
at Christmas is more meaning¬
ful than just its tradition.
—g*——i—-ii— i urn, m> m <
To me snow gives a message—
a message which I am sure is
not “added to” but in harmony
with the true spirit of Christ¬
mas.
To me the “white” of Christ¬
mas is the spirit of snow. It
doesn’t particularly depend
upon getting up on Christmas
morning and finding the
ground covered, though this
would add to it. If we might
be philosophical, the idea of
snow at Christmas is greater
ithat its existence.
Snow is the symbol of purity,
of peace, or orderliness, of
happiness. Just as no man can
look at a landscape covered with
snow and see all the deformi¬
ties, the ugliness, the barren¬
ness of winter, neither does God
see the deformities, the bareness
the ugliness, the sinfulness of
lives because of the birth and
life of Jesus.
One cannot stand in the
and listen to the snow falling
but can only be aware of
peace it brings as it covers all
about with a softness and ten¬
derness never equalled by man.
He can but long for such sweet
peace, as given only by God, in
,his inner soul and in the souls
of men the world over. Man can
hot look at a snowflake with its
Intricate design, its uniqueness
from every other snowflake
without realizing that God is a
God who in His
cares for even the tiniest detail
of nature and that he is God’s
most marvelous and valuable
creation. Nor can man experi¬
ence the coldness of snow with¬
out considering the warmth in
his heart at this time of the
year and the warmth of Christ’s
love that binds men’s hearts
together the world over. No, no
one can deny that snow is in
harmony with the true meaning
of Christmas.
Why do we think of snow
when we think of Christmas? I
can only say what it means to
me. It is my prayer that it so
speaks to you.
No Christmas is a real Christ¬
mas unless it is a “white Christ¬
mas.”
May all your Christmases be
“white.”
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