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Distributing Gifts. If 'Santa Claus and all the Christ- mas trees should go on strike this year and refuse to have anything to do with presents, there are any num- ber of other ways to distribute them. jolly and original ways too, that are not much trouble or expense. How delighted the family will be on Christmas morning, especially the children in the family, to see the big livingâ€"room table apparently snow- bound. The whole surface is covered with a layer of white cotton batting sprinkled 'with artificial snow, and rising out of the snow are just as many sparkling snowâ€"covered mounds as there are members of the family. On each snowy hill a tiny white-clad Eskimo sits or slides, and each hill is likewise marked by a gay red-lettered sign bearing the name of the owner. Lifting the imaginary blanket of snowâ€"in reality a blanket of sheet wedding be-sprinkled with artificial snOwâ€"each person dis-covers aigache of gifts. If there is a dog in the household you can plan a fine surprise for the| children. Christmas morning he may come trotting in wearing a wee red jacket and a collar of tiny jingling bells. He makes the rounds, and each person is entitled to one bell, but must pick out the one tagged with his or her name. The other side of the tag mentions the place where that person’s gifts are conceals]. One label may state, “The lowest shelf of the china closet," another will say, “Under the hall table,” and so on. A very simple way which makes the presents last a long time is to put them all beforehand into a big clothes basket, decked with ground pine or other Christmas greenery. When it is time to have the presents: the basket .is brought in to occupy the centre of the room, and the folks all sit in a circle around it. One at a time, in turn, draws a package, looks at the name, and hands it to the proper owner, all watching while it is opened. This makes the opening of the parcels a long-drawn-out sweetness, and everyone shares in everyone els-e‘s joy- Tlie kiddies will love a Christmas ship, .its decks loaded with goldeni packets. If there is a toy ship in the‘ playroom or among the gifts of the day, it is not difficult to arrange it on a table, trim it With a bit of holly, and heap its decks with the Christ- mas presents tied up in gilt and silver paper to seem'more treasure-like. A small boy in his sailor suit may be chosen to help unload it, or a real sailor uncle or cousin among the grown-ups. Almost every family has a toy ex- press cart, and-‘this can be easily be made effective as the centre of the occasion. To each corner of the cart. fasten upright a tiny evergreen tree, or merely a branch decked withua few shining ornaments 'or colored iballs. Spread the centre of the cart with a yard or so of scarlet paper or cloth to hang over the edges. On top of it in the cart, sheltered by the four little corner trees, pile the presents. Quite a pretty way to have the presents on Christmas Eve is to ar- range in a burning row, on the man- tel, a candle for each person, corre- sponding to age or size. Thus, Baby may have one of those very wee ones, the older children may have. graduat- ed sizesâ€"Father may have a very tall one, Grandma, who is portly, may have one of those plump bedroom candles, and so on. Each candle has on it a ribbon bow of distinguishing color, and all the presents that can he found about the room, tied with that particular color, belong to the owner of the candle. Some time ask each member of the family to do his or her own pack- ages up in a distinctive way. Maybe Aunt Mary will tie hers all in green; Cousin Jane may use yellow raffle. to tie hers; Mother may choose gray paper and orange ribbon; some jok- ing brother could use newspapers. A very simple and happy plan is to assign each person a chair with a green wreath hung on the back, from which a gay red holiday balloon sways cheerlly in air. On the seat of the chair arrange the gifts that are com- ing to its assiguee. | .__._..__ 4..---. . She Knew What She Wanted Anyway. l One man said to another in the first weeks of December, “What are you going to give your wife for a Christmas present?" “I don’t know yet," said the other. “She put it away in a drawer before‘ I had a chance to see it." ‘ i Father Christmas. Away with melancholy! This day is for delight; When mistletoe,and holly, In wreaths and garlands bright, Are hung above the inglc. And joyous voices mingle To welcome Father ('hi'islmas, Who comes clad all in white. A Christmas Carol. The Shepherds had an Angel, The Wise Men had a star, But what have I, little child, To guide me home from far, Where glad stars sing together And singing angels are? Those Shepherds through the lonely night 'Sat watching by their sheep. Until they saw the heavenly host Who neither tire nor sleep, All singing “Glory, glory," In festival they keep. Green spray and crimson berry, A crown for him shall be; Gay catch and carol merry Shall fill his heart with glee; Shall match his sleigh-hell's jingle, And warm his ears a-tinglc, A greeting for Father Christmas, The Chnistmas fairy he. The Wise Men left their country To journey morn by morn, With gold and frankinccnse andl myrrh, Because the Lord was born: God sent a star to guide them And sent a dream to warn. Within his sleigh he carries The presents high up-piled; Not long with us he tarries, By leaf and song beguiled; God speed, down dale and dingle; May there not be a single Forgotten one this Christmas, But gifts for every child. ____.' A Prayer. I pray that while I live here in this world, 'My life is like their journey, Their star is like God’s book; I niust be like those good Wise Men With heavenward heart and look: But shall I give no gifts to God? What precious gifts they took! ' â€"Christina G. Rossetti. o 4 (l? . ” ea e on Ea . Though i should poorer grow, c ith We cannot hear with the angels l aifine and sad’ , The song that the angels sang, St] may have one candle i As over the hills of Judah, burning bright Their glorious message rang In my best Window on God's [Of a Christ. that was born in a manger, holy night' A Saviour meek and mild, Who left his home in glory, A holly spray to make my And became a little child. room seem gladâ€" And in my heart the blindfold ‘ hope to rise Singing dream carols of the Christmas skies. _.:.__.___ _. Took Her at Her Word. “What was his present, dear?” ask- ed a chorus of female voices on Christmas Day. “Was it a pearl brooch or a bracelet, or was it a dia-‘ 0f the silver star that beckoned mond tiara?" I To the Hope of a nation’s dream; The fair fiancee's eyes, which lately . _ _ lNOt ours to give to Him treasures had glittered With glowmg anticipa- Of frankincense, myrrh and gold, tions, grew moist. ' Not ours to gaze on the graces “It wasn‘tâ€"anything!" she replied. Of the Christ-Child manifold. “Not anything?" cried her friends. “Oh, the brute! How did it happen ‘3 " “Well, you see," explained the bit-, terly disappointed one, the tears now| bursting through their barriers, “heâ€"he aSked me w-what I wanted, and I told him' I'd Iâ€"love him just as much if he didn’t g-get me anything#and s- svo hâ€"he d-didn‘tl” Our ears cannot catch the music Nor the words of that sweet refrain, That came from celestial choirs, A sweet and solemn strain, Of “Glory to God in the Highest, On earth peace, to men good-will," That floated to earth from Heaven That night in the midnight still. We cannot go with the wise men And follow the blessed gleam But hark! the air is pulsing With the vibrant angel song In our hearts we catch the message And the gladsome notes prolong, As they ring down the long-past ages “Peace on earth, good will to men,” And the Star leads ever onward' To the Babe at Bethlehem. The Lad’s Gift to His Lord. ” Two shepherds and a shepherd lad Came running from afar To greet the little new-born One . Whose herald was a star. But empty were their toilâ€"worn hands, And on the stable floor The Wise Men knelt with precious gifts The Saviour to adore. "Oh, take my cloak," one shepherd cried, .. 'Twill keep the Babe from cold." "And take my staff," the other said, .. 'Twill guide Him o'er the wold.H The shepherd lad looked sadly down; No gift at all had he, But only on his breast a lamb He cherished tenderly. 50 young it was, so dear it wasâ€" p The dearest of the flockâ€" For days he had been guarding it, Close wrapped within his smock. He took the little, clinging thing And laid it by the Child, " And all the place with glory shoneâ€"â€" ' For lol Lord Jesus smiled. HERE WE ARE AGAIN] \X/hile we celebrate Most gracious Cod, Lift us up and out Great Christmas at Jerusalem. “I have spent not a few romantic and picturesque Christmas Days," said a well-known clergyman to the writer, “but none that remains so vividly in my memory as the one I passed a few years ago at Bethle- hem. , “It was a cold but very beautiful morning on which I joined the thou- sands of pilgrims who streamed out of the Jat'fa Gate on the way to Beth- lehem. And a motley, picturesque crowd it was! ‘ “A two hours” walk brought me to the quaint, old world little town, in its setting of olive-groves and fig- trecs, nestling among the Judae'an hills, and looloing so old and hoary that one might well believe it is un- changed since Christ first opened his eyes on it. “But that day the narrow streetsâ€"â€" so narrow that one could almost shake hands across any of them, were already flull of life and color. Pass- ing through the marketâ€"place, where is the world-famous Church of the Nativity, I followed the stream ofI people until I found myself one of2 the crowd in the Field of the Shep- herdsâ€"the very field in which, so tra-‘ dition says, the shepherds were watching their flocks that memorable- night more than nineteen centuries ago. “In the field were priests engaged in blessing the pilgrims, and after re- ceiving my benediction I hurried back to Bethlehem in bimeto witness! the procession of priests and people to the Church of the Nativity. “At the head of the procession walked the Patriarch of Jerusalem, al stately; impressive figure in richâ€"2 even gorgeousflvestments, with a; bodyguard of almost equally splendid. priests bearing aloft towering candles and magnificent banners; .while be-, hind came a most picturesque medleyl of priests and people. “One by one these hundreds of wor-i shippers filed through the low, nar-i row doorway leading into the churclm1 until the building was full almost to; suffocation. l “Here services are held all through lChristmas Day and night until dawn* ‘breaks, the Patriarch himself celeâ€"l brating mass at midnight. i “From the church and its dignified" :ind solemn service I found my way, “into the famous ‘Grotto of the Na-: iivity.’ ” ' “It is but a tiny room, this ‘Grotto; of the Ohaniber,’ as it is called, and; it contains but a small altar, said to; occupy the very ground on which the‘l Wise Men from the East prostrated: themselves before the infant Jesus.” ‘ . | A Christmas Hymn. l ’Tis Christmas time, the crowded! street, the busy mart, I All witness to the tidings sweet, and‘ while we start i The Yuleâ€"log blazing on the hearth,- with measure meet. q While hearts o’erfiow with genial. . mirth, we haste to greet 3 The Christmas time. i ’Tis Christmas time, 0 God above, our hearts unite E In bonds of sympathy and love this holy night. And may the message angels brought inspire the song That swells to tell: may to thee belong. This (‘hiistnxas time. every thought 0 Christmas time. H ‘2 , i. .' Christ was ‘- That saw the ll2'6 in perfect in u'iiii {by 1' Llll'i light our Tiii at last ‘ gveri‘cu‘. (inj. 1In Chi'isp's our. Shine. .3 r__________________â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"- Christmas Prayer for 1920. Greatest Babe of every age, Teacher, Prophet, Monarch, Sage; Send a vision now, we pray, For rampant sin heclouds our way. Blind confusion sways the earth; So we kneel and humbly pray, In compassion guide our way. Spread Thy light and come Thou nigh; Help us tide our fiery day, Lift us from the 'miry clay. Cure us of our love of pelf; Still the din and fearsome strife, Teach us of that higher life. Jehovah, only King, Throne secure, Thy praise we sing; Hearts illuminate again, Let'good will forever reign. __________________________â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"' # Thy .birth, Lord on high, of self, PREPARlNG FOR THE DAY Only a short time yet remains to prepare our homes and ourselves to receive the Great fot that comes to us on Christmas Day. And to make ready, let us first read again the story of His life; how He came to earth, how He lived here and how He left. The story is one of the simplest ever written; of one who was a poor man, who never had any money to give to any one, who never bought gifts of any kind. What he gave was Himself, and of that He gave freely and gladly. It is His birth that we are to celebrate on Thursday. We are to give thanks that He came to us, and for that great and lasting Gift we give to others. Everything that- we give on Christmas Day is in memory of Him. Do we think of this enough? Do we tell our children as much about this most precious of all Gifts as we do about Santa Claus? The whole story of Christ's coming to earth, as told in the four gospels, is summed up by the late Dr. George Hodges in his beautifa_..f"book. “When the King Came," in these words: “This tells how once the King of Glory came from heaven to visit us here on earth and live among us: how He was born in Bethlehem and brought to Nazareth; how He went about telling people of the heavenly kingdom and doing good, ministering to the sick and the poor; how He was misunderstood and disliked and hat- ed, hill at last they took Him to Jeruâ€" salem and nailed Him to a cross, so that He die-d; and how, after that, He came to life again and went back into heaven, promising to return.” And in memory of the little child who was born in a stable at Bethle- hem on a Christmas Day, centuries ago, we are to keep Christmas again this year. Christmas always will be kept as long as the world endures, but the way of keeping it rests with each one of us. Let us make our gifts, but with each one let us give something of ourselves. Let us tie them up with love, and dispatch them with thoughtfulness; let us make no gifts that cannot take with them the spirit of Christ; and, with Tiny Tim, let us say With hearts that mean it, “GOD BLESS US. EVERY ONE." ‘9’ = Soil for Growth. At Christmas time Elinor got sev- eral little candy animals, which she had been saving because they were so cute. But one day the toy rabbit was missed, “What did you do with Bunny?" “Oh, he got too dirty to play with, so I ate him,” replied Elinor. ’_ __ "it was always said of him. that he knew how to. keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!"â€"-Dickens. ________'__â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"- Then Shall Come Peace.‘ Christmas is here With its good cheer; Peace and good will Is its message so clear O'er all the earth, To herald Christ's birth; May love instil All its precepts of worth. Where there is ‘vlight Of Sin's dark night, May this good news Enter with its blest light; Then shall come peace, Then sorrow cease, And holy truths (live from error release.