SPIRITUALITY AND FAITH
THE DAY THAT CHANGED THE WORLD!
Article by Pastor Philip Nissley,
New Hope Assembly of God, Taylor, MI
Bret Harte wrote the story of “The Luck of Roaring Camp” about the meanest, toughest of all mining camps that boasted more murders and thefts than all the other mining camps. Among all those men, was one woman who died giving birth to a baby. Not knowing who the father was, they put the baby in a box, wrapped him in an old red flannel shirt, but decided that didn’t look right so they sent one man to town to buy the best cradle, lace, blanket, and whatever else the salesperson said the baby would need, no matter the cost.
They put the baby in the cradle with his new blankets and stood back admiring how cute he was in his new surroundings. They felt satisfied until one of them noticed how filthy the room was. So those hardened, tough men got down on their hands and knees and scrubbed the floor, they washed down the walls and ceiling, cleaned the dirty windows and hung fresh curtains.
Then they realized that babies need a lot of sleep and so they had to stop the loud arguing, and brawling caused by their drunkenness. They also agreed they
needed to change their drinking and smoking habits, and profanity was abandoned. When the miners went to the cradle and the little baby would take hold of their fingers, they noticed how dirty their hands were. Very soon, the general store brought in new shipments of soap, shaving gear, after-shave, mirrors, new shirts and these hardened miners took on a whole new look.
During the day they placed the little baby on a blanket and put flowers around him near where they were panning for gold so they could see him during the day. Their luck finding gold increased since this little lad had come along, so needless to say they named him “Tommy Luck” or “Luck” for short. At night the men took turns rocking him to sleep. It became legendary how one tiny baby boy brought about so much change to the meanest and toughest bunch of men at Roaring Camp. The same could be said of Jesus…the Baby of Christmas who CAME TO CHANGE THE WORLD! In His story we first see…
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