Robert Louis Stevenson wrote this prayer for Christmas: "Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of angels, the gladness of the shepherds and the worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate, and open the door of love all over the world...

According to the wire service reports, there is a place in Australia that has become a favorite spot for those who want to commit suicide. It is a rocky cliff near Sydney Harbor called The Gap. For nearly 50 years, a man named Don Ritchie has lived across the street from The Gap. Don sees it as his responsibility to try to keep people from jumping over. It is estimated he has saved more than 160 lives by offering conversation, coffee or tea.

A little boy was invited to a birthday party in the neighborhood. His mother said, "Be sure to thank the mother when you leave." When he returned, his mother asked him if he had thanked the mother who hosted the party.

The original seal of the state of Georgia depicted a mulberry leaf, a silk worm and a cocoon. The seal bore these Latin phras sibi sed allis,"not for us but for others." Not a bad slogan for the church.

You can imagine how foolish I felt clutching my little bag of dollar popcorn and my cup of soda. I did not know the riches that were actually mine. Many Christians do not know the riches that are available to them in Christ.

Erich Fromm is reported to have said, "Who will tell whether one happy moment of love, or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies."

In Vansbro, Sweden, police were startled when a thief returned a wallet he had stolen with the whole amount that was in the wallet along with the interest the money would have earned. He also enclosed a letter of apology. He had stolen the money 40 years earlier. It is never too late for restitution and repentance.

Robert Shannon noticed that, oddly enough, the oldest river in America is called the New River. People who study such things say it is the second oldest river in the world. Only the Nile is older! Running through North Carolina and Virginia, it is called the New River because it was not discovered by Europeans until quite late. It was newly discovered!

Many have labeled Millard Fillmore the most obscure president in American history. Fillmore, our 13th president, succeeded to the presidency after the sudden death of Zachary Taylor. He was not nominated for a second term. There is a small cabin marking his birth in a state park, but the cabin is a reproduction and not on the site of his birth. There is a home he inhabited for four years, but it is not on the site of his property.

At the heart of the old city of Quebec is a church called Our Lady of the Victories. It was first named The Church of the Christ Child. Then the French won a significant military victory, and the name was changed to Our Lady of the Victory.