The Spirit of Christmas

The Spirit of Christmas

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spirit of Christmas, by Henry
Van Dyke This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
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Title: The Spirit of Christmas
Author: Henry Van Dyke
Release Date: January 3, 2005 [EBook #14572]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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THE
SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS
BY
HENRY VAN DYKE
[Illustration: (Frontispiece)]
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1911
* * * * *
_Copyright, 1905, by Charles Scribner's Sons_

_Published, October, 1905_
* * * * *

CONTENTS
A DREAM-STORY
THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL 3
A LITTLE ESSAY
CHRISTMAS-GIVING AND CHRISTMAS-LIVING 33
A SHORT CHRISTMAS SERMON
KEEPING CHRISTMAS 45
TWO CHRISTMAS PRAYERS
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR THE HOME 51
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR LONELY FOLKS 56
* * * * *

A DREAM-STORY

THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL
It was the hour of rest in the Country Beyond the Stars. All the silver
bells that swing with the turning of the great ring of light which lies
around that land were softly chiming; and the sound of their
commotion went down like dew upon the golden ways of the city, and
the long alleys of blossoming trees, and the meadows of asphodel, and
the curving shores of the River of Life.
At the hearing of that chime, all the angels who had been working
turned to play, and all who had been playing gave themselves joyfully
to work. Those who had been singing, and making melody on different
instruments, fell silent and began to listen. Those who had been
walking alone in meditation met together in companies to talk. And
those who had been far away on errands to the Earth and other planets
came homeward like a flight of swallows to the high cliff when the day
is over.
It was not that they needed to be restored from weariness, for the
inhabitants of that country never say, "I am tired." But there, as here,
the law of change is the secret of happiness, and the joy that never ends
is woven of mingled strands of labour and repose, society and solitude,

music and silence. Sleep comes to them not as it does to us, with a
darkening of the vision and a folding of the wings of the spirit, but with
an opening of the eyes to deeper and fuller light, and with an effortless
outgoing of the soul upon broader currents of life, as the sun-loving
bird poises and circles upward, without a wing-beat, on the upholding
air.
It was in one of the quiet corners of the green valley called Peacefield,
where the little brook of Brighthopes runs smoothly down to join the
River of Life, that I saw a company of angels, returned from various
labours on Earth, sitting in friendly converse on the hill-side, where
cyclamens and arbutus and violets and fringed orchids and pale
lady's-tresses, and all the sweet-smelling flowers which are separated in
the lower world by the seasons, were thrown together in a harmony of
fragrance. There were three of the company who seemed to be leaders,
distinguished not only by more radiant and powerful looks, but by a
tone of authority in their speech and by the willing attention with which
the others listened to them, as they talked of their earthly tasks, of the
tangles and troubles, the wars and miseries that they had seen among
men, and of the best way to get rid of them and bring sorrow to an end.
"The Earth is full of oppression and unrighteousness," said the tallest
and most powerful of the angels. His voice was deep and strong, and by
his shining armour and the long two-handed sword hanging over his
shoulder I knew that he was the archangel Michael, the mightiest one
among the warriors of the King, and the executor of the divine
judgments upon the unjust. "The Earth is tormented with injustice," he
cried, "and the great misery that I have seen among men is that the evil
hand is often stronger than the good hand and can beat it down.
"The arm of the cruel is heavier than the arm of the kind. The unjust get
the better of the just and tread on them. I have seen tyrant kings crush
their helpless folk. I have seen the fields of the innocent trampled into
bloody ruin by the feet of conquering armies. I have seen the wicked
nation overcome the