{"product_id":"2940013161092","title":"BY THE CHRISTMAS FIRE","description":"As I sit by my Christmas fire I now and then give it a poke with a\u003cbr\u003ebayonet. It is an old-fashioned British bayonet which has seen worse\u003cbr\u003edays. I picked it up in a little shop in Birmingham for two shillings. I\u003cbr\u003ewas attracted to it as I am to all reformed characters. The hardened old\u003cbr\u003esinner, having had enough of war, was a candidate for a peaceful\u003cbr\u003eposition. I was glad to have a hand in his reformation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo transform a sword into a pruning hook is a matter for a skilled\u003cbr\u003esmith, but to change a bayonet into a poker is within the capacity of\u003cbr\u003ethe least mechanical. All that is needed is to cause the bayonet to\u003cbr\u003eforsake the murderous rifle barrel and cleave to a short wooden handle.\u003cbr\u003eHenceforth its function is not to thrust itself into the vitals of men,\u003cbr\u003ebut to encourage combustion on winter nights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bayonet-poker fits into the philosophy of Christmas, at least into\u003cbr\u003ethe way I find it easy to philosophize. It seems a better symbol of what\u003cbr\u003eis happening than the harps of gold and the other beautiful things of\u003cbr\u003ewhich the hymn-writers sing, but which ordinary people have never seen.\u003cbr\u003eThe golden harps were made for no other purpose than to produce\u003cbr\u003ecelestial harmony. They suggest a scene in which peace and good-will\u003cbr\u003ecome magically and reign undisturbed. Everything is exquisitely fitted\u003cbr\u003efor high uses. It is not so with the bayonet that was, and the poker\u003cbr\u003ethat is. For it peace and good-will are afterthoughts. They are not even\u003cbr\u003eremotely suggested in its original constitution. And yet, for all that,\u003cbr\u003eit serves excellently as an instrument of domestic felicity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe difficulty with the Christmas message is not in getting itself\u003cbr\u003eproclaimed, but in getting itself believed; that is, in any practicable\u003cbr\u003efashion. Every one recognizes the eminent desirability of establishing\u003cbr\u003emore amicable relations between the members of the human family. But is\u003cbr\u003ethis amiable desire likely to be fulfilled in this inherently bellicose\u003cbr\u003eworld?","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079209500912,"sku":"2940013161092","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013161092_p0.jpg?v=1763577200","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013161092","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}