{"product_id":"2940013649798","title":"THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  A DREAM-STORY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL 3\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  A LITTLE ESSAY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    CHRISTMAS-GIVING AND CHRISTMAS-LIVING 33\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  A SHORT CHRISTMAS SERMON\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    KEEPING CHRISTMAS 45\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  TWO CHRISTMAS PRAYERS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR THE HOME 51\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR LONELY FOLKS 56\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       *       *       *       *       *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA DREAM-STORY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE CHRISTMAS ANGEL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was the hour of rest in the Country Beyond the Stars. All the\u003cbr\u003esilver bells that swing with the turning of the great ring of light\u003cbr\u003ewhich lies around that land were softly chiming; and the sound of\u003cbr\u003etheir commotion went down like dew upon the golden ways of the city,\u003cbr\u003eand the long alleys of blossoming trees, and the meadows of asphodel,\u003cbr\u003eand the curving shores of the River of Life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the hearing of that chime, all the angels who had been working\u003cbr\u003eturned to play, and all who had been playing gave themselves joyfully\u003cbr\u003eto work. Those who had been singing, and making melody on different\u003cbr\u003einstruments, fell silent and began to listen. Those who had been\u003cbr\u003ewalking alone in meditation met together in companies to talk. And\u003cbr\u003ethose who had been far away on errands to the Earth and other planets\u003cbr\u003ecame homeward like a flight of swallows to the high cliff when the day\u003cbr\u003eis over.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was not that they needed to be restored from weariness, for the\u003cbr\u003einhabitants of that country never say, \"I am tired.\" But there, as\u003cbr\u003ehere, the law of change is the secret of happiness, and the joy that\u003cbr\u003enever ends is woven of mingled strands of labour and repose, society\u003cbr\u003eand solitude, music and silence. Sleep comes to them not as it does to\u003cbr\u003eus, with a darkening of the vision and a folding of the wings of the\u003cbr\u003espirit, but with an opening of the eyes to deeper and fuller light,\u003cbr\u003eand with an effortless outgoing of the soul upon broader currents\u003cbr\u003eof life, as the sun-loving bird poises and circles upward, without a\u003cbr\u003ewing-beat, on the upholding air.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was in one of the quiet corners of the green valley called\u003cbr\u003ePeacefield, where the little brook of Brighthopes runs smoothly down\u003cbr\u003eto join the River of Life, that I saw a company of angels, returned\u003cbr\u003efrom various labours on Earth, sitting in friendly converse on the\u003cbr\u003ehill-side, where cyclamens and arbutus and violets and fringed orchids\u003cbr\u003eand pale lady's-tresses, and all the sweet-smelling flowers which are\u003cbr\u003eseparated in the lower world by the seasons, were thrown together in\u003cbr\u003ea harmony of fragrance. There were three of the company who seemed\u003cbr\u003eto be leaders, distinguished not only by more radiant and powerful\u003cbr\u003elooks, but by a tone of authority in their speech and by the willing\u003cbr\u003eattention with which the others listened to them, as they talked\u003cbr\u003eof their earthly tasks, of the tangles and troubles, the wars and\u003cbr\u003emiseries that they had seen among men, and of the best way to get rid\u003cbr\u003eof them and bring sorrow to an end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Earth is full of oppression and unrighteousness,\" said the\u003cbr\u003etallest and most powerful of the angels. His voice was deep and\u003cbr\u003estrong, and by his shining armour and the long two-handed sword\u003cbr\u003ehanging over his shoulder I knew that he was the archangel Michael,\u003cbr\u003ethe mightiest one among the warriors of the King, and the executor\u003cbr\u003eof the divine judgments upon the unjust. \"The Earth is tormented with\u003cbr\u003einjustice,\" he cried, \"and the great misery that I have seen among\u003cbr\u003emen is that the evil hand is often stronger than the good hand and can\u003cbr\u003ebeat it down.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47158439346416,"sku":"2940013649798","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013649798_p0.jpg?v=1763584046","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013649798","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}