SPECIAL SOLDIERS
        
              Many people celebrate Christmas in unique ways.  There are
        those who spend exorbitant amounts of time shopping for The
        perfect gift for this or that person.  Some decorate trees inside
        their home, and then spend hours spreading lights across every
        tree in their yard.  Traditions vary from family to family and
        culture to culture, yet there is no season which causes us to
        spend more time preparing for one day.  
              On Saturday night, outside Hills in the Cranberry Mall, I
        found a person who was celebrating Christmas in a special way. 
        Dressed in a uniform and ringing a bell, a woman was opening the
        door for everyone who came in and out of the store.  She had a
        crisp smile on her face.  On a tripod beside her was a small red
        can with a slot cut into it.  
              This Salvation Army soldier stood on the front lines.  I'm
        not sure about you, but I can't pass by one of these brave souls
        without taking out whatever is in my pocket and putting it into
        the red can.  In fact, I have to say that of all voluntary
        "soldiers" I most admire those who labor for the Salvation Army.
              When I got home, I did some research to find out just how
        the Salvation Army was founded.
              William Booth, born in Nottingham, England in 1829,
        converted to the Methodist faith in 1865, raised a tent over a
        Quaker burial ground, and started what was called the "Christian
        Mission."  In 1878 the name was changed to the "Salvation Army"
        and Booth assumed the title of general. 
              In "citadels" there was arranged the "penitent form" where
        multitudes of people of all classes in society, some victims of
        drink, vice, gambling and other evils, others quite respectable
        though lacking in spiritual satisfaction, confessed their sins
        and were reclaimed, marching forth under the "Blood and Fire"
        flag--Blood for the atonement by Christ on the Cross, and Fire
        for the Pentecostal gift of the Holy Spirit.  
              Far-sighted laymen like Earl Cairns, the earl of
        Shaftesbury, and John Bright, a famous Quaker Statesman,
        recognized the Salvation Army as an answer to the deep-seated
        social needs with which the churches were not adequately dealing. 
        
              Control of the army and its properties was vested in the
        founder, William booth, and all of whose eight children.  From
        1880 onward, the army spread overseas as an international
        crusade.  The most remarkable expansion occurred in the United
        States under Evangeline Booth, one of his daughters.  
              From 1904 until 1934, the army's assets increased in value
        from $1.5 million to $35 million.  More than 30,000 officers and
        cadets and another 20,000 persons without rank are employed by
        the army.  This large force conducts more than 20,000 corps and
        outposts around the United States.  
              The work of the army in prisons, rescue missions, maternity
        homes, labor bureaus, and many other fields is recognized as the
        movement's successes.
              Within the personnel of the organization there is a never-
        flagging insistence on the spiritual powers and impulses which
        from the very first soldier have animated the Salvationists as
        the envoy of the Gospel in a secular world.
              A few years ago when the panhandle of West Virginia
        experienced severe flooding, it was the Salvation Army that
        arrived on the scene days before any other relief organizations,
        including the American Red Cross.  
              Many times we don't know what the Salvation Army does
        because it is not as visible as the American Red Cross, and is
        not subsidized by the federal government.
              My son sometimes chastises me for wanting to go and shop at
        the Salvation Army Store in Franklin.  I try to tell him that
        what the Army does is provide people with a chance to work by
        recycling clothing, furniture, and other goods and selling them
        to the public.  I enjoy shopping there knowing that while I am
        able to get decent clothing, I am also supporting the efforts of
        the army.
              I imagine that anyone who runs into the mall during this
        holiday season to buy those last few gifts will be spending more
        than a few dollars.  If everyone would drop into those red
        buckets just the loose change and/or dollar bills in their
        wallets or purses, imagine how much money would be collected to
        support the army's cause? 
              How many of us would be willing to stand outside Hills,
        endure the cold, and open the door for all those who entered from
        10 am until 10 pm?  
              As I stuffed my money into the red can she thanked me
        quietly and said, "I'll be glad when 10 pm rolls around.  I'm
        getting tired."  I didn't wonder why.  
              I wished her a merry Christmas, walked out to my car and
        drove away.  But the memory of that woman lingers within me.  She
        is the spirit of Christmas-Present.  
              Before this holiday season ends, please consider
        contributing something to those red cans you will find wherever
        you go shopping during the next few days.  Tis' the season of
        giving, and what better way than to support one of the noblest
        missions founded in the last century?