Copy Of A Typewritten Letter As A Christmas Message for the Lightkeepers and Coast Guard People.
135 Pine St., Detroit, Mich., Dec. 25, 1918
My Dear Friend:-
Christmas Greetings from myself – Sinbad the Sailor, who also extends greetings from the Lightkeepers and Coast Guard people and Old Father Neptune the Storm King, and his Mermaids throughout the Great Water World.
I am sitting in my own quiet room upstairs, down below on the ground floor there is a little Christmas tree beautifully trimmed, and about it there is dancing a little boy we call “Golden Locks,” because of his ten distinct ringlets hanging loosely over his ears and neck. This is our three-year-old grandson, Billy Moore. There are several other grandchildren on their way to Grandpa’s and Grandma’s house, and soon I must join them in a Christmas celebration.
What a wonderful thing the institution of Christmas is, deriving its name, and especially the beautiful spirit of cheer, of hope, and of kindly consideration that characterizes Christmas, from Christ Himself, who nearly 2,000 years ago, left his sacred footprints in the sands along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, as He went about doing good.
“The hands that helps is better than the lips that only pray.
Love is the ever gleaming star that leads the way,
That shines not on vague worlds of bliss,
But makes a paradise in this.”
If you hear anyone say there is no such thing as “Santa Claus,” that it is a “delusion” and a “myth,” please remind him of the fact that it is the spirit kindness, the disposition to sacrifice for others, a kindly generous spirit in the beauty of sacrifice that seems to be in the very air at this period of the sweet Yuletide, that takes possession of everybody that has a heart to feel – this bright and beautiful spirit is Santa Claus. The good natured, fat, jolly, red faced and red nosed old chap, with his reindeers, sled and rich warm furs, is Santa Claus in a form that can be understood by the smallest children; this is Santa Claus in the rough, but the real Santa Claus is the spirit that puts him in motion and furnished him with the goods, for be it remembered, the giver is greater than the gift.
“O, little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie,
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the Everlasting Light,
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
The war is won, and now as never before, we realize that the greatest element of success is our firm faith in our ability to succeed through courtesy and efficiency. May you learn to look at the bright side, keep the sunshine of living faith in your heart and never let the shadows of discouragement and despondency fall upon your pilgrim path.
Very sincerely,
W. H. Law.
John
His passion for the Great Lakes and its history grew from the stories handed down through both sides of his family about Rev. Law’s travels and relatives lost in the sinking of the S.S. Carl D. Bradley.
He currently resides with his wife, Kimberly, in Brooklyn, MI.
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