or, patched little stockings with gifts to show that
someone cares? I don't believe there is a boy or a girl here who is
selfish enough to refuse to do such a little thing to bring a glad
Christmas into a poor home. All we need is to be told where to go and
what to do. [Doubtless you will have planned a way for the children to
give remembrances to the poor; this may be presented in a word at this
time, reserving the details for the close.]

[Illustration: Fig. 10]

"'At Christmastide the open hand
Scatters its bounties o'er sea and land;
And none are left to grieve alone,
For Love is Heaven and claims its own.'

"Truly, the Christmas spirit is upon us today. But stop--! Will it
vanish tomorrow? Will we forget to be kind to those about us next
week, next month, next summer? Will we forget that these same little
worn, patched stockings are there in the same needy homes, and that
the boys and girls may need our friendship and help more when it is
summer than they do now when so many willing hands are extended to
help them?

"I hope we shall not forget. Let us remember that the best gifts,
ofttimes, are not those which we can see and touch. The truest gifts
are those of love and companionship and service--the same fellowship
which Jesus gave to the poor when he was among men. It seems as if His
heart always went out to those in need, and He helped them, not with
gifts which fade and wear out and are soon cast aside, but with words
and deeds which told them that He would be a true friend even to the
end of the world. 'Christianity,' says Henry Drummond, 'wants nothing
so much as sunny people, and the old are hungering more for love than
for bread. The Oil of Joy is very cheap, and if you can help the poor
with the Garment of Praise, it will be better than blankets."
Dr. Henry D. Chapin expresses the same thought when he says, 'The cry
of the ages is more for fraternity than for charity. If one exists,
the other will follow, or, better still, will not be needed.'

"Says J. R. Miller, 'Wanting to have a friend is altogether different
from wanting to be a friend. The former is mere natural human
craving. The latter is the life of Christ in the soul.'

"At no better time than today can we choose to plant again the seed of
true friendship in our hearts. Let us cultivate it and nurture it
until it blooms forth into friendship for everyone who may be helped
by the love of Christ through us."