{"product_id":"2940012865588","title":"BETTY'S BRIGHT IDEA","description":"BETTY'S BRIGHT IDEA.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts\u003cbr\u003eunto men.\"--Eph. iv. 8.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome say that ever, 'gainst that season comes\u003cbr\u003eWherein our Saviour's birth is celebrate,\u003cbr\u003eThe bird of dawning singeth all night long.\u003cbr\u003eAnd then, they say, no evil spirit walks;\u003cbr\u003eThe nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,\u003cbr\u003eNo fairy takes, no witch hath power to charm,--\u003cbr\u003eSo hallowed and so gracious is the time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd this holy time, so hallowed and so gracious, was settling down over\u003cbr\u003ethe great roaring, rattling, seething life-world of New York in the good\u003cbr\u003eyear 1875. Who does not feel its on-coming in the shops and streets, in\u003cbr\u003ethe festive air of trade and business, in the thousand garnitures by\u003cbr\u003ewhich every store hangs out triumphal banners and solicits you to buy\u003cbr\u003esomething for a Christmas gift? For it is the peculiarity of all this\u003cbr\u003earray of prints, confectionery, dry goods, and manufactures of all kinds,\u003cbr\u003ethat their bravery and splendor at Christmas tide is all to seduce you\u003cbr\u003einto generosity, and importune you to give something to others. It says\u003cbr\u003eto you, \"The dear God gave you an unspeakable gift; give you a lesser\u003cbr\u003egift to your brother!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDo we ever think, when we walk those busy, bustling streets, all alive\u003cbr\u003ewith Christmas shoppers, and mingle with the rushing tides that throng\u003cbr\u003eand jostle through the stores, that unseen spirits may be hastening to\u003cbr\u003eand fro along those same ways bearing Christ's Christmas gifts to men--\u003cbr\u003egifts whose value no earthly gold or gems can represent?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet, on this morning of the day before Christmas, were these Shining\u003cbr\u003eOnes, moving to and fro with the crowd, whose faces were loving and\u003cbr\u003eserene as the invisible stars, whose robes took no defilement from the\u003cbr\u003espatter and the rush of earth, whose coming and going was still as the\u003cbr\u003efalling snow-flakes. They entered houses without ringing door-bells, they\u003cbr\u003epassed through apartments without opening doors, and everywhere they were\u003cbr\u003ebearing Christ's Christmas presents, and silently offering them to\u003cbr\u003ewhoever would open their souls to receive. Like themselves, their gifts\u003cbr\u003ewere invisible--incapable of weight and measurement in gross earthly\u003cbr\u003escales. To mourners they carried joy; to weary and perplexed hearts,\u003cbr\u003epeace; to souls stifling in luxury and self-indulgence they carried that\u003cbr\u003enoble discontent that rises to aspiration for higher things. Sometimes\u003cbr\u003ethey took away an earthly treasure to make room for a heavenly one. They\u003cbr\u003etook health, but left resignation and cheerful faith. They took the babe\u003cbr\u003efrom the dear cradle, but left in its place a heart full of pity for the\u003cbr\u003esuffering on earth and a fellowship with the blessed in heaven. Let us\u003cbr\u003efollow their footsteps awhile.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSCENE I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA young girl's boudoir in one of our American palaces of luxury, built\u003cbr\u003eafter the choicest fancy of the architect, and furnished in all the\u003cbr\u003elatest devices of household decoration. Pictures, statuettes, and every\u003cbr\u003eform of _bijouterie_ make the room a miracle of beauty, and the little\u003cbr\u003eprincess of all sits in an easy chair before the fire, and thus revolves\u003cbr\u003ewith herself:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"O, dear me! Christmas is a bore! Such a rush and crush in the streets,\u003cbr\u003esuch a jam in the shops, and then _such_ a fuss thinking up presents for\u003cbr\u003eeverybody! All for nothing, too; for nobody Wants anything. I'm sure _I_\u003cbr\u003edon't. I'm surfeited now with pictures and jewelry, and bon-bon boxes,\u003cbr\u003eand little china dogs and cats--and all these things that get so thick\u003cbr\u003eyou can't move without upsetting some of them. There's papa, he don't\u003cbr\u003ewant anything. He never uses any of my Christmas presents when I get\u003cbr\u003ethem; and mamma, she has every earthly thing I can think of, and said the\u003cbr\u003eother day she did hope nobody'd give her any more worsted work! Then Aunt\u003cbr\u003eMaria and Uncle John, they don't want the things I give them; they have\u003cbr\u003emore than they know what to do with, now. All the boys say they don't\u003cbr\u003ewant any more cigar cases or slippers, or smoking caps. Oh, dear!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere the Shining Ones came and stood over the little lady, and looked\u003cbr\u003edown on her with faces of pity, which seemed blent with a serene and\u003cbr\u003ehalf-amused indulgence. It was a heavenly amusement, such as that with\u003cbr\u003ewhich mothers listen to the foolish-wise prattle of children just\u003cbr\u003elearning to talk.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the grave, sweet eyes rested tenderly on her, the girl somehow grew\u003cbr\u003egraver, leaned back in her chair, and sighed a little.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I wish I knew how to be better!\" she said to herself. \"I remember last\u003cbr\u003eSunday's text, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' That must\u003cbr\u003emean something!","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47078965346544,"sku":"2940012865588","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012865588_p0.jpg?v=1763573730","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012865588","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}