The Press Junior Saturday, December 24, 1938. The Chirstmas Wish

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22593, 24 December 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Press Junior Saturday, December 24, 1938. The Chirstmas Wish

Sto-mosrow la all Christian countries in the world almost aB people will rise with kindlier thoughts for others than they have on any other day ip the year. In every city and town and village, in scores of different languages, men and women and boys and girls will be giving one another the bestknown wish there is: “A merry Christmas.’* In some homes the chief concern will be worship; in others it will be merry-making. To some the December 25, will mean the most important holiday of the year, the day of most lavish giving, of feasting and singing and laughter; to others it will mean the day of peace kept for nearly 2000 years in memory of that day when the heavenly Host appeared to the shepherds of Jerusalem bringing them good tidings of great joy and commanding peace on earth and goodwill towards men because a Child was bom to bring salvation to mankind. To some it seems a curious custom to keep the cheer and merriment and feasting of Christmas without any of the practices that set it aside as a religious festival. Yet it may be that this day can be made of world-wide and permanent importance even without the practising of formal religious customs. It is, more than anything else, as the first command of the Host set it down to be, a day of peace and goodwill. It has become, in our land and many others, a holiday and day of giving and receiving. But giving and receiving and the joy they bring to every human being should not be confined to one day in the year. It may be that nations will not fight in battles on Christmas Day even in civil wars; but it is a poor reasoning that tells them to refrain from fighting on December 25 because that day is dedicated to peace and goodwill, yet lets them kill and bomb and maim on December 26 because that day has no special religious meaning. Everyone will agree that there is something absurd about such reasoning. But how many people practise throughout the year the kindly behaviour and cheerfulness that they think fitting foar Christmas Day?, In

this column before now a plea has been made for an extension of Christmas goodwill: it is made again now. Let readers be merry on Christmas Day; let them be friendly and loving; let them give and receive carefully-chosen gifts; let them be free from care and pain and ill-will; let them have a merry Christmas and look forward to a happy new year when the world will be at peace. And may these things be true not for Christmas Day only but for all the days of the year. And may they be true, not for our readers only, but for all people in all countries; so that the peace of the world may be achieved sooner, and all nations live with goodwill toward one another.