Here are a couple dozen stories that shine with the magic of Christmas, gleaned from 50 years of Guide, a weekly Christian magazine for young people. They brim with enough cheer and goodwill to gladden your heart and burst your generosity into full bloom.

You will experience a magical Christmas Eve spent in a barn. A horse that comes in from the cold. A tumbleweed Christmas tree. You will meet people who have discovered how much more blessed it is to give than to receive. A boy chooses a doll over a wagon—so he can give it away. Two boys shovel snow for nothing. One man is mistaken for Santa Claus.

Grandpa prays for food, and his granddaughter falls into a whole pile of it hidden in a snowbank. An orphan finds a home. A blue silk dress comes in response to a girl's prayer just in time for the Christmas play. A little girl locked in a dark room finds her lost grandfather. German and Allied armies stop fighting to celebrate the Prince of Peace.

To alter your altruism permanently, dip deep into this collection and revel in the riches of Christmas.

Helen Lee Robinson, born in Seoul, Korea, is the former assistant editor of Guide magazine. She edits the Guide's Greatest . . . Stories series. Previous volumes have featured collections about prayer, miracles, escape from crime, Christmas, and Sabbath. The author lives with her husband, Nathan, in Berrien Springs, Michigan.