LONG AGO, AS A MERE BOY, I sat with some of my playmates and listened to an old Negro man tell a most interesting and fascinating story. It wasn’t the only time he told us stories; over the years he had told us many stories...but this was a very special story, one that I shall never forget. It was on December 21, 1860, fifty odd years ago. It was a Christmas story, and I suppose its impact on me will linger always. It was all the more impressive since the telling took place near Christmas. Every year since, at Christmas time, remembrance of that story serves to focus my cluttered and all-too-busy life on the true meaning of