Lapreh enemmne

NEWS/MIRKOR CHRISTMAS EDITION!

Were wishing that:
you'll enjoy warmth
and peace at your
hearthside this

Yo Sram It’s our way of
saying thank you for a

truly fine relationship.

From the management and staff of

—= SHOPPERS
= DRUG MART:

TRAIL, B.C.

IN THE SPIRIT of Christmas we all extend our warm wishes for a Merry
Christmas and a prosperous New Year. We thank you for your loyal
patronage and look forward to serving you again in 1980.

BEAWER

TRAIL, B.C.

We sincerely wish
that you may enjoy

- aholiday season

full to over-
flowing with
life’s best.

Semen

time of year -
when best wishes fora
happy holiday are given out
‘to one and all. Thanks for your patronage.

Northwest Mobile _—

CASTLEGAR

Caldset Groceteria
and Laundret

Albert and Ida Calderbank & Family
CLOSED CHRISTMAS DAY |
OPEN all other 364 Days of the Year

4, g
Bring ing old pes joys to warm
your heart at Christmastide. __
Our gratitude for your support.

Hadikin Bros.
Lumbering Ltd.

: i a
‘| May it bring our good BN
friends and patrons
many moments
rich with -
peace and
contentment.

Our warmest thanks to you,
with the wish that this merry
season will bring with it a
sleigh-full of joys and bright
Christmas Cheer.

SHOES

Waneta Plaza

What if Joseph and
Mary had been mod?

By: Arthur J. Zaporozan
Pastor,

Trail Pentecostal i Church

Have you ever wonder-
ed what would have become
of Christmas if Mary and
Joseph had been mod?

Suppose Mary, the vir-
gin from Bethlehem and
mother of our Lord, had told
the angel to get lost, She and
Joseph had big plans for a big
wedding and nothing was
going to interfer with those
plans.

Suppose - it: you never
have — that upon finding
herself pregnant, Mary had
sought to rid herself of the
bothersome “thing” she was
carrying in her body.

Somehow we forget that
the people we read about in
the Bible were real. ‘They
were not figments of the im-
agination. They were not
make-believe people put into

an allegory to teach some
way out of religious mumbo-
jumbo that works for mys-
ties, fanatics and recluses.

Mary and Joseph were
real, They had plans, dreams,
hopes and aspirations of their
own.

Ever notice how so many
people blame God when the
going gets tough? “If he
loved me why did he let this
happen?”, they lament. Yet
when He comes near to them
and says I love you or
demonstrates that love in
giving of His only son Jesus,
we ignore His overtures and
in effect tell Him to butt out
until we are ready for Him.

. Mary and Joseph, how-
ever, did not adopt that kind
of approach to the reality of
being intimately involved in
the plans of God. They recog-
nized that a far greater in-
telligence than theirs was
guiding and planning events
tHat they found. themselves
caught up in.

Mary's immortal res-
ponse to the message of the
angel, Gabriel, was, “behold
the handmaid of the lord, be
it unto me according as Thou
hast said.”

God showed His love
toward us in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Before He could die
He had to assume human
form, which He did in Beth-
lehem.

‘ The incarnation! God be-
came flesh and dwelt among

..us, Now. if your concept of

god is one ofa a grand old man
with a long beard sitting
somewhere up on the moun-
tains of the gods, you won't
‘be too excited about God
becoming flesh, and living
among us. Well, neither
would I.
(But the creator, my
maker and yours, becoming
intimately involved with His
creation. My God, who has
answers for the problems

that we face today. The.

problems forcing so many to
dispair.

Marriage breakdown of
one in three; abortion that
has B.C. with the Canadian
record of 33 per 100 live
births; alcoholism with B.C.
again Jeading the pack with
the highest per capita con-
sumption of alcohol in Can-
ada; teenage suicides on the

increase; child abuse becom- [J

ing more of a problem each
year,

Loneliness, fear, frus-
tration — all eating away at
the very heart of Canadian
life and more, in particular,
life here in the Kootenays,
your own included.

But we insist on doing
our own thing. When things
go well, it is our. ability and
prowess that is responsible.
When the chips are down and
our backs against the wall, it
is God's fault.

Christmas speaks of
courage, non-conformity, and
faith expressed by Mary and
Joseph. Courage, non-
conformity and faith that
allowed them to let God have
His way in their lives.

You want a challenge?

You want a Christmas that is*

different? You will get it if
you present your life to God
in humble and sincere sub-
mission to His will. If you
keep your life for yourself,
you will lose it Jesus said. If,
on the other hand, you lose

- your life to Jesus, you'll keep

it. 5

The baby that Mary
gave birth to was destined to
take away the sin of the
world. That includes you, as
well, my friend.

No, Mary was not mod.
She had a courage that would
let her be obedient to God's
designs in her life.

Do you have. the same
sort of courage that would let
you respond to the invitation
of Jesus: Come unto me all ye
that are weary and heavy

| laden and I will give you rest.

¢
~~ /,

wishing you lots
of joy and laughter to remember all year.

We thank you for your patronage and look
forward to serving you in 1980.

BONNETT'S

BOYS' & MEN'S WEAR
CASTLEGAR

< There's no time mae like Christmas
for remembering all the friends we
cherish, and for wishing them all

lorry Aorby

A Thank You to ail for your patronage through ‘79.

WANETA PLAZA
TOYOTA

TRAIL, B.C.

Spi

May Christmas bring you

your heart's desire.

We enjoy serving you.

2

On Red Mountain —- In Rossland