... to the true meaning of Christmas to fail to recognize the other false messages. In St. Francis' time, lepers were required to carry with them little bells which they had to ring to ... will they be?" Basney suggests we start with some contact with nature - "with snow, with the mud-brown, with animals. Nature is the one permanent participant in the work of culture with the power and ... A Christmas Oxymoron." And yet each year Christians identify with Yeats' "The Second Coming" and the aptness of its phrase " ...