The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1971. Christmas

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32798, 24 December 1971, Page 12

The Press FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1971. Christmas

On Christmas morning 100 years ago “The Press” reminded its readers: “Once again the revolving “ year calls upon us to celebrate our great “Christian festival, the twenty-first which has been “ honored in the land of our adoption . . . During “ the last twenty years we have spent many a merry “ Christmas. May the one which we are this day “ called on to celebrate be the MERRIEST of them “ all ”, Christmas in those early days of settlement in New Zealand was a time of family celebration and thanksgiving, as it remains for many people. It was then part of the fabric of the life of the times. The vulgarisation which has since' obscured the true message of Christmas had hardly begun. Only a handful of shops troubled to advertise, for a day or two, wares “ suitable for Christmas and New Year “ presents ”. Handel’s “ Messiah ” then, as now, had been performed in Christchurch; most excitement appeared to come from the promise of steamer rides on the harbour on Boxing Day.

Fifty years ago on Christmas Eve “ The Press ” positively glowed with enthusiasm for the age of peace it confidently expected was about to begin. “Not within the lifetime of the oldest among us “ has there dawned upon the nation a Christmas Day “so charged with the promise of happiness ”. This newspaper expressed “the confident hope that we “ are on the eve of the coming of peace on earth ”. A peace settlement in Ireland and an agreement to limit the size of navies were instanced as examples of the new age: even a moving appeal by the Save the Children Fund for help for those caught in the famine of post-revolutionary Russia could not spoil the general sense of well-being. The false hopes of 1921. like the simple excitement of 1871, deserve more than a passing thought this Christmas. At a time when technological and material progress has transformed the face of the Canterbury “ colony ”, and of much of the world, mankind appears no nearer to the reality of that dream Of peace of 50 years ago. Yet the message of Christmas remains one of universal peace and love; it is the star that Christians have followed, however clumsily, for almost 2000 years The sad realities of the present should not lead to a sense of hopelessness; rather Christmas should be the time for everyone to take stock and reflect on the part which they plight play in the betterment of their fellow men. Peace between nations can grow only from peace between individuals. It may be too much to expect all men to practise on every day of the year the spirit of good will which they are wont to show at Christmas. That does not mean the effort should be abandoned. The deepest religious significance of Christmas lies in the hope that the values it inspires—good will, humility, unselfishness, tolerance, and love—will find a more permanent place in the lives and deeds of all mankind.