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[islandboy]

The automatic clothes dryer has all but eliminated a staple raw material from which many toys were made. The humble clothespin could be painted and dressed in fabric scrapes, and an entire family, all different, was created. For the adventuresome child, a clothespin doll became a daredevil parachuter simply by tying string to the corners of a handkerchief and attaching it to an eye screw in Mr. Clothespin's head. Dropped from the ledge on the front porch, he blossomed magnificently on his gentle descent to the ground.
Yes, as I think back over the years, life was less complex then; the simple joys of childhood are now cherished memories.   The End.

[islandboy]

This short story reminded me of the things my brothers and I did as kids for entertainment. Hide and seek with neighborhood kids, shed riding down the alley ways ( with look-outs at each street to prevent running into cars), baseball, badminton, building things out of nature, snowball fights (without intent of hurting someone), bike riding, hiking, ice skating, bowling, listening to the older folks stories, reading, playing board games and working puzzles. The list is endless. We were not allowed to use the telephone for idle chatting but only for important calls. The TV  (black/white was only ours on Saturday mornings for cartoons.  We were outdoors playing on good days or indoors playing on rainy days, but not glued to a computer for hours at a time (did not exist), no I-pods, cell-phones either. Just the use of common sense and imagination.

[nChrist]

Hello Islandboy,

Thanks for that pleasant trip down memory lane. Yes, there was a time when things were pretty simple - especially for children. It makes me sad that children today can't enjoy that same simplicity.

Love In Christ,
Tom

"The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free. Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently He thought it worth the risk."
C.S. Lewis

[islandboy]

THOU  ART  A  TEACHER  COME  FROM  GOD

Although we are not told anything in the Gospels about the schooling of Jesus, the writer of Luke said that the boy "increased in wisdom." Since early Hebrews wanted their sons to read the Scriptures, it is likely that Joseph sent Jesus to the local synagogue school to learn to read. What kind of a school was it?
According to old records, the first elementary school in the Holy Land opened about seventy-five years before Jesus was born. It was started by a queen and her brother who was a rabbi. Perhaps he became the first grammer school teacher.
Gradually small towns about the land copied the example of Jerusalem and opened a House of Books. This was not a separate building, but was the synagogue. Here classes were held on weekdays and worship on the Sabbath.
The most important building in every village was the synagogue. It was placed on the highest piece of ground as a symbol that it was sacred. It also faced toward the Holy City.
The building had only one room. Because wood was both scarce and costly, the walls were made from the stones that littered the land. The floor was paved with flat stones. Along the sides of the walls were stone benches for the males who came to worship. Set into one wall was a special bench known as the Moses seat. This was for the school teacher on weekdays.
The walls held no pictures of famous men, not even of the prophets. Drawings of humans were considered to be related to idolatry. However, a local artist might have painted palms over the stones. This was permitted because palms decorated Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 6:29). There might also have been a six-pointed or five-pointed star.

[islandboy]

The main furnishing in the room was a chest or ark placed on the east wall. This was a symbol of the Holy of Holies in the great Temple. Inside the ark was a scroll of the Law, the sacred Torah. And in front of the ark a lamp burned day and night, year in and year out, a token of everlasting Truth.
On nearby shelves rested more scrolls of Scripture to be used as textbooks for the pupils. Each scroll was in a leather case wrapped in linen. In one corner of the room stood the shophar, a horn that was blown to announce the start of the Sabbath at Friday sunset. The horn was a ram's horn which had been straightened by heat and flattened at one end.
Each synagogue had a lectern where the speaker stood to read. At his elbow a set of seven candles, the menorah, threw light on the written words.
The school teacher was a rabbi, if one was available in the town. If not, then a scholar gave his time to the classroom and was paid by the congregation. A rabbi, however, was not so lucky. Although he has spent months or years earning his title at the rabbinical collage, he received no salary. Instead, he was expected to support himself by a trade working with his hands.
Students in the classroom were boys. Though there was no law forbidding a girl to go to school, the men had decided that reading and writing were not necessary for a female. Her place in life would always be in the home, since there were no lady scribes, secretaries, lawyers or rulers of the synagogue.

[islandboy]

Segregation was unheard of. The color of the skin was of no importance. Some boys had very dark complexions because they had a dark ancestor named Ham. Other students had light complexions and looked almost Greek. Their ancestor had been Japheth, third son of Noah.
Jesus may have gone to this type of school. We have no record that He ever taught school, yet He became a teacher. The Gospels report that He "went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues" (Matt. 4:23). Possibly He had even studied in a rabbinical collage, since He was addressed by the title of rabbi. A judge of the Hebrew supreme court, the Sanhedrin, saluted Jesus as, "Rabbi, we know thou art a teacher come from God" (John 3:2).
Yet this greatest of all men may have started in a little schoolhouse in a synagogue in Nazareth.


Written by Helen B. Walters

[islandboy]

DECEMBER  BRINGS  US  CHRISTMAS
by Alba M. Wahl

A month of waxen tapers and sweet-toned bells,
And berries that gleam like rubies in old wines;
Rich purple groves in the misty distance look
Like amethyst vases spilling crystal vines.

Love laces the city and threads the plains
As it sets this month reverently apart
In a joyful renaissance of the spirit,
Making December a thing of the heart.

At this time of the year, just like a shepherd,
Our thoughts go out and bring our memories home;
Love passes, as though on wings, from heart to heart
O'er starlit fields or the sapphire ocean's foam.

'Tis now we deck our halls as we deck our heart,
Listen breathlessly for each familiar sound;
We emerge from the year that has slipped by,
Reborn, in a way, refreshed, and spellbound.

In the late of the month when the world is still
We've overcome by the known, the seen, the felt.
We, too, would bring frankincense and myrrh
And kneel at the manger where the wise men knelt.

We would seek and pray for the kind of faith born
In the innocence of the annunciation.....
For peace that passes human understanding,
And plead for man-made peace for every nation.

Now, at the end of a beautiful season,
When the earth is clothed in the light of heaven,
We display tender feelings for all mankind.
Old wounds are lightly blown over and forgiven.

We would seek the hills where the silences are,
Seek a faraway time, a faraway place...
Kneel with the shepherds, sing with the angel host,
And in the light of the Star see the Christ Child's face.

[islandboy]

THE  THINGS  OF  CHRISTMAS
by Eleanor Lyons Culver

I like the dear familiar things of Christmas;
The holly wreaths with berries scarlet bright;
The fragrant balsam tree, the silvery tinsel;
Tall tapered candles flickering in the night.
I like to hear the children singing carols,
Their voices ringing out across the snow.
I like the dear familiar things of Christmas
That linger on to leave an afterglow.

I like the dear familiar things of Christmas:
The gifts all wrapped and hidden safe away;
The cheery greeting cards and friendly letters
That drop into our mailbox every day.
I like the fruitcake and the rich plum pudding,
The feasting with our loved ones gathered near.
I like the dear familiar things of Christmas...
Such happy things that mark this time of year.

I like the dear familiar things of Christmas,
But more than these I love the story old
About a Babe, a manager, a fulfilling
Of what the ancient prophets had foretold.
I like to hear that story oft repeated,
Though mingled tears of joy and sorrow start.
For oh, I love the dear Lord Christ of Christmas
Who tenderly has won my yearning heart.

[islandboy]

THE  MAGIC  OF  CHRISTMAS
by Ruth H. Underhill

The magic of Christmas
Is so many things....
A wreath on the door,
And a church bell that rings;
A kitchen that's bubbling
With sugar and spice;
Red stocking o'erflowing
With everything nice.

The magic of Christmas
Is seen everywhere...
A star on the tree,
And a candle aflare;
A log on the fire
With a flickering glow;
Streets that are blanketed
With shimmering snow.

The magic of Christmas
Is felt in one's heart;
A Babe in a manager
And shepherd's apart.
A star of gold
In the sky above;
The peace that is ours
By showing love.

The magic of Christmas
Is so many things....
A tree in the window
And carolers that sing;
A house filled with children
Bubbling over with cheer,
Anxiously awaiting
St. Nick to appear.

The magic of Christmas
Is happiness and joy,
Wrapped up in the face
Of a small girl or boy
As they race down the stairway
In eargerness and glee,
To scan all the toys
Neath the glittering tree.

[islandboy]

THE  CHRISTMAS  TREE
by Joy Belle Burgess

Oh, what our little ones now can see
In the glistening boughs of their Christmas tree...
A rainbow of colors that sparkle and gleam,
A bright world of magic woven of dreams.

A fairyland glow that illumines the night
With red, blue and green in a rapture of light;
A treasure of joy and gay make-believe,
A vision of wonder on this Christmas Eve.

For garlands of silver weave and entwine
To the uppermost bough where a star brightly shines,
While teddy bears nod and pert little elves
Whisper of Santa's brimming toy shelves.

And branches are bright with songbirds and bows,
With diamonds that glitter and capture and hold
Their glances of wonder, their sighs of delight,
As our little ones sing of Santa tonight.

Deep in their fantasy world of the young
There is ever a dream and a song to be sung;
Ever the wonder of what lies beneath
The fragrant green boughs on Christmas Eve.

Oh, what our little ones now can see
In the glistening boughs of their Christmas tree....
A dream world of magic, a rapture of light,
A beauty that fills them with wonder tonight.

[islandboy]

HERITAGE OF THE EAGLE
by Claire Hupe Burnham

Where craggy peaks pierce azure sky
With somber hew and regal,
In lonely lands where winds brood and sigh
Abides the majestic eagle.

Oh, splendid bird of fierce attire,
I see you in graceful silhouette,
Spread-winged and circling ever higher
In a sky-born pirouette.

You wander far from your Alpine home
To distant timberline,
Fulfilling an innate need to roam
Like a lonely peregrine.

Your aerie lies on a lofty perch
In a mountain wilderness.
You survey your realm in keen-eyed search
And plunge for prey through emptiness.

O could I but emulate your courage...
Your fearless pursuit of aim,
Accepting life through storm or calm
With nobleness of frame.

[islandboy]

THE  CHRISTIAN  CONVERSATION

Christian conversation is marked by a number of insights and operating principles that we must understand and apply for our conversations to be most effective.
1. Willing to accept people as they are,
2. Tolerant of differences of opinions and life-style,
3. Able to discuss without arguing,
4. Moved to care about others,
5. Willing to listen to other's hurts and hopes,
6. Strong enough in faith to guide rather than manipulate.
Bringing people to Christ should be done in such a fashion so people understand that the Christian way is not to control others, but to be the kind of person around whom others feel free to be themselves, and then with thankful hearts, hopefully give their lives over to our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

[islandboy]

THE  LITTLE  LIGHTS  OF  CHRISTMAS
by Vincent Godfrey Burns

The little lights of Christmas
Are all agleam tonight,
Shedding on home and hearthstone
Their tender, lovely light;
And down the ages shining,
A star of long ago
Sends a path of hope and glory
Across the winter snow.

The little lights of Christmas
Are white and green and red,
While in the blue of heaven
One star shines overhead;
From sin and death and sorrow
It lifts our hearts above,
A symbol for all humankind
Of God's great wondrous love.

The little lights of Christmas
Are warming with their glow
Each avenue and byway
Wherever people go.
They tell a wondrous story
Of faith and hope tonight,
To touch the darkest corners
With beams of heavenly light.

[islandboy]

THE  CHISTMAS  HEART
by Esther Baldwin York

Christmas is real to us only if we have a heart that holds the heart of Christmas. It must be a heart that, like the stable of long ago, cradles Love itself. One that is filled with song like that the angels sang. A heart that retains the light of that scintillant, guiding star. For out of such a heart will flow the loving-kindness, the singing joy, and the radiance that will bring Christmas.....the real Christmas......to others.

[islandboy]

THE  CHRISTMAS  HEART
by Grace Bush

Lord, let me keep a Christmas heart,
That, "mid the tumult of the throng,
Still hears the echo, clear and sweet,
Of angels ' song.

Lord, let me keep a Christmas heart,
That hears and sees another's need,
And strives each day to follow Thee
In word and deed.

Lord, let me keep a Christmas heart,
To light with joy the children's eyes,
And know the Christ Child, though He come
In humble guise.

So may I know the joy within
The wise men, coming from afar,
Knew, when at last, o'er Bethlehem
They saw thy star.

So may I keep thy birthday, Lord.
In all I say, in all I do.
A Christmas heart of faith and love
The whole year through.