Christmas Eve

Today, Christmas Eve, is the day before man has designated to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ.

This day in 2009, would have been Mother's 101st birthday [if my math is right!]. In tribute to her devotion and beliefs, which she tried to instill in the hearts and memories of her children, I am publishing a popular reading. My" less than thorough research" determines this was a part of a sermon to which I am providing a link at end of the reading.

One Solitary Life

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a
carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned
over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

[This essay was adapted from a sermon by Dr James Allan Francis in “The Real Jesus and Other Sermons” © 1926 by the Judson Press of Philadelphia (pp 123-124 titled “Arise Sir Knight!”). If you are interested, you can read the original version here.

I found this link interesting because it also gives viewpoints of Albert Einstein and Thomas Jefferson on Jesus, along with other readings.

Here is a YOU TUBE presentation by Bing Crosby.

On ths Eve of Christmas I wish everyone, regardless of beliefs everywhere: Joy, Peace and Good News (Tidings) on Earth.