Christmas Messages “Stable Factor In Changing World”

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30632, 24 December 1964, Page 5

Christmas Messages “Stable Factor In Changing World”

(New Zealand Press Association)

NAPIER, Dec. 23.

The Archbishop of New Zealand, the Most Rev. N. A. Lesser, today issued the following Christmas message. “In wishing people everywhere a happy Christmas it is my sincere desire that we shall disentangle the true essence of Christmas from the trappings. It is so easy to be content with listening to carols and even joining in them with childhood memory, without seriously considering the staggering import of what the great event could mean to our daily lives. “In this world of flux and ceaseless change, the only stable factor is the truth which emerged from the stable of Bethlehem. When the tiny babe yawned and stretched out his arms, the cross which he formed was a ground plan for the universe which he came to re-

deem. A faith which finds its king bom in a manger and dying on a cross, leads us to look for God in unexpected places. “If we look for God in our fellow men, we are told that ‘those who seek shall find.’ That can be the beginning of universal understanding. “For most people the Christmas season is marked by generous judgment and forbearance. If the spirit of Christmas Day could become the spirit of all men ail the time, how different this world would be. “How often at school our masters showed us how to tackle some work, and usually concluded, ‘now go and do it yourself.’ “Christmas is when God shows us how to live, and you will enjoy a happy New Year if you ‘go and do it yourself.’ ”