d about--it depends not
upon what we have, but upon what we enjoy. God says, 'Let the wicked
forsake his ways and the _unrighteous_ man _his thoughts_'--that
is, his unrighteous thoughts. Why? Because God knows that vulgar
thoughts make vulgar men, and evil thoughts make evil men. So boys,
make a practice of chasing them out of your heads as you would drive a
snake out of your bedroom."

THE CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS
--Christmas
--The Needy

It Is Well to Remember the Poor at Christmas, but it is Infinitely
Better to Be a True Friend Every Day.

THE LESSON--That the true Christmas spirit is that which causes us
to remember the needy always, whether their need be for the
necessities of life or for the love of a real friend.

Too many of us are inclined to shower our gifts and our good wishes
upon the needy at the glad Christmas season, and then neglect this
great field of service throughout another twelve-month period.

~~The Talk.~~

"As we go out upon the street today everybody seems to be happy and
full of laughter and good cheer. People who usually pass us by without
speaking at all or who merely nod without as much as a smile, act
today as if they knew us very well; they smile real widely and say
'Merry Christmas!' just as heartily as they know how, and we respond
to the greeting with a 'Same to you!' with an inner feeling of
friendliness that somehow surprises us. It is a time when nearly every
heart is warmed, and we find our greatest joy in seeing how happy we
can make other folks. In every home where children are to be
found--and there the Christmas spirit is the merriest--we see the
stocking all hung in a row, and we are just as anxious to fill them as
the owners are to have them filled. [Draw the three stockings,
completing Fig. 9.]

[Illustration: Fig. 9]

"Here they are. And when Susie and Johnnie and little Bob come
scrambling downstairs on Christmas morning their eyes sparkle with
delight and our hearts warm with Christmas gladness as we join in
their merriment.

"But there are other homes. And other stockings--stockings not so
warm, not so good--stockings that are darned and patched and worn like
this. [With broad side of black crayon change the stockings of Fig. 9
to resemble those of Fig. 10.] In the atmosphere of Christmas joy in
our own comfortable homes, do we sometimes over-look the boys and
girls in the poorer homes who won't have much of a Christmas unless we
fill these po