Showing results by author "Henry Van Dyke" in All Categories

Tantor Media presents a collection of some of the most popular Christmas stories read by two award-winning narrators. This special anthology will transport listeners back to the Christmases of their youth, when they first heard these holiday tales

This is the story of John Weightman, who has carefully and responsibly accumulated material wealth. Indeed, he has built a respectable name and a respectable mansion here on Earth. But what has he built in heaven? Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” In this story, Henry van Dyke invites us to go along with John Weightman to see what the mansions look like in heaven, and who shall inherit them.

For listeners who are tired of Christmas commercialism, or who feel that Santa Claus and reindeer don’t tell the whole story, these classic gems provide a winning alternative. Selected for their insightfulness, spiritual value, and literary quality (nothing moralistic here) they project the spirit of the season in a fresh, compelling manner that will resonate with listeners of all ages - from children too young to read to themselves, to parents and grandparents who enjoy listening to stories, as well.

"The Mansion" by the author, educator, and clergyman Henry Jackson van Dyke Jr. (1852-1933) tells of the life of John Weightman and his reward in heaven. Weightman is a wealthy man who does good deeds like funding a school, a church, and a hospital wing. However, his giving is calculated to bring him a benefit. In a near-death experience, he goes to heaven and is shown the heavenly mansion which was prepared for him. It was nothing more than a little shack!

This wonderful story about the true spirit of giving. This classic Christmas story is about forgetting oneself, and focusing on the needs of others. John Weightman is living a misdirected life, he has done much good in the world, but it has all been calculated to be of benefit to himself and his businesses. Fortunately he receives a wake-up call through a beautiful Christmas Eve experience, and receives a privileged preview of his heavenly mansion.

The language of Poetry is an art that most of us attempt at some point in our lives. Although its commonplace exposure has been somewhat marginalised in today’s often fast-paced lives we all recognise good verse that can empathise with our thoughts or open us up to experience new things in new ways

You know the story of the three wise men of the east, and how they traveled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger-cradle in Bethlehem. But have you ever heard the story of the Other Wise Man, who also saw the star in its rising, set out to follow it, yet did not arrive with his brethren in the presence of the young child Jesus? I would tell the tale as I have heard fragments of it in the hall of dreams, in the palace of the heart of man.

With timeless classics from some of the most notable names in literature, this Christmas story bundle is the perfect listen for the most wonderful time of the year.

You know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they traveled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger-cradle in Bethlehem. But have you ever heard the story of the Other Wise Man? This one-hour audiobook contains the complete text of Henry van Dyke's original story, artfully brought to life by a colorful cast of characters under the direction of David Nevland.

Henry van Dyke shares a wonderful morality tale in his 1895 The Other Wise Man, as a metaphor for the life of a true Christian. Telling the story of a fourth king who saw the signs but never reached the Christ child in time, van Dyke introduces us to the values of good deeds and charity while searching for the path to Jesus. Because as Jesus keeps eluding the fourth king, he unknowingly gets closer to him with every righteous act he performs.

This everlasting tale of the first Christmas tree follows the monk Winfred as he journeys to lands far and wide to teach others about Christianity. During his adventure, he happens upon those who believe in the ancient thunder god Thor and teaches them the way of Christ.

This tale is of the other wise man, who also saw the star and after his wanderings and hardships found the Christ Child in a very strange way.

"The Valley of Vision" is an inspirational novel by Henry Van Dyke. From the Preface: "Why do you choose such a title as The Valley of Vision for your book," said my friend; "do you mean that one can see farther from the valley than from the mountain-top?" The mountain-top is the place of outlook over the earth and the sea. But it is in the valley of suffering, endurance, and self-sacrifice that the deepest visions of the meaning of life come to us.

"The Story of the Other Wise Man" by Henry van Dyke is a fictional addition to the Magi-account from the Bible. The "fourth" wise man, Artaban, is a Medes from Persia. Like the other Magi, he sees signs proclaiming that a King had been born among the Jews. He sets out with treasures to the child, too. But he stops along the way to help a dying man. He misses the caravan, so he sells one of his treasures to buy the camels and supplies for the trip. He arrives in Bethlehem too late to see the child.

It is the same old story of the struggle between the old and the new. This tale, portrayed in the dark detail of the eighth-century, tells of old foresters, who desire to cling to the past, and a bright, young Christian who comes to teach them about the birth of Christ.

This a handpicked collection of some of the greatest Christian stories ever written. When we speak of these works as Christian stories, we mean that each story has a powerful Christian message based on Jesus' teachings. Three of the stories are from Jesus himself. Others were written by devout believers like Henry Van Dyke and Johanna Spyri. Yet, one of the authors, Mark Twain, was not a Christian himself, but his story reveals profound insights into the teachings of Christ.

"The Spirit of Christmas" is a collection of Henry Van Dyke's thoughts on the subject. "Power corrupts itself, and might cannot save. The Earth is full of ignorant strife, and for this evil there is no cure but by the giving of greater knowledge. It is because men do not understand evil that they yield themselves to its power. Wickedness is folly in action, and injustice is the error of the blind. It is because men are ignorant that they destroy one another, and at last themselves. If there were more light in the world there would be no sorrow."

Upon his return home from the battlefields of Europe in 1918, Col Blackwood, a UK Army infantry officer, is reunited with his family on Christmas Eve after nearly four years away. In the midst of telling his children a bedtime story, we learn of Artaban, a Magi priest, and the fourth wise man to present gifts to the newborn King. As a result of dissension among his fellow Magians, Artaban has no other choice but to embark on this journey alone. Though his quest is fraught with challenges along the way that test his courage and stir his compassion, his faith never wavers.

This whole framework of things visible and invisible wherein we mysteriously find ourselves perceiving, reasoning, reflecting, desiring, choosing and acting, is designed and fitted, so far at least as it concerns us and reveals itself to us, to be a place of training and enlightenment for the human race through the unfolding and development of human persons such as you and me. For no other purpose are these wondrous potencies of perception and emotion, thought and will, housed within walls of flesh and shut in by doors of sense, but that we may learn to set them free and lead them out. For ...

Henry van Dyke was a member of the clergy; this story reads like a sermon for good reason. Its full title is "A Short Christmas Sermon: Keeping Christmas". Read by award-winning audiobook narrator Mike Vendetti, this lovely piece reminds us what Christianity is about.