THE SCHEME OF THINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 152, 24 December 1926, Page 14

THE SCHEME OF THINGS

(By M.H.C.)

Was thero ever a year when the ) world seemed so bright and chco'ry as it has appeared this Christmas? The annual shopping for presents appears to have been going on for quito a

couple of months past; crowds have been about tho streets evidently on gift ".hopping intent, and the children havo i ; #<x even above tlio ordinary attractions offered to them. There is a wonderful Cheerfulness abroad, and this, in spite 01 dull weather most of the time.. Flowers seem to be oxtra fine, and that' in spito of a number of disadvantages, and a room seen lately decorated with poppies of delightful shades of pink, with lovely irises of soft blues and mauyes, was a isiglit to make the most depressed person smile and feel upliftod into cheerfulness. Tho preparations for the festive time are going en in most households, and some words from a very fine poem, taken from an old manuscript in Christehurch (Oxford) archives, appear to fit the times. Tho poet wrote thus: — "Yet if His Majesty, our sovereign lord Should of his own accord Friendly himsolf invite And say, 'I'll be your guest to-mor-row night,' How should we stir ourselves, call and command All hands to work. Let no man idle stand. Perfume tho chambers, and in any case Let each man give attendance in his place— Thus if a king were coming would we do, And t'were good reason, too; For 'tis a duteous thing To show all honour to an earthly king, And after all our travail and our cost, So ho bo pleased, to think no labour lost. But at tie coming of the King of Heaven All's .Bet.at. Six and Seven:" Christ cannot find a chamber at the inn, We entertain Him always like a Stranger, Ana as at first, still lodge Him in a manger.'' Of course thero are quite a large proportion who prepare a welcome for the King of Heaven;., give Him thought; bring some joy to those who are in sorrow and darkness of life, and offer Him a gift in that way. But, at the same time there is a, very large section which leaves the manger only for the greatest Guest of jail, and who take all the joy of life, the prosperity and peace, and offer neither gift nor thought to the Kingly Visitor. If these could roalise the far greater joy of giving thought, service, and time for the preparation of a place for the Christ-child, in the way of assistance to others, th.oy would understand why some go .on, never relaxing effort, finding a great joy and -peace in service, and being quite unable to stop their efforts, no matter who shrugs or smiles. The best wish of all to give to all people is, perhaps, not the conventional one, but one something like this, "Happy Service, and Joyful Preparation for a Different New Year."

Those who have had no experience in •n-ving in shops are sometime;) inclined j ■ criticise, the . present system to its disadvantage—perhaps showing a very considerable ignorance in so doing. But, in these hurried days particularly, when'the'Christmas shopping is-a matter of difficulty because of the number of people on. the samo quest, and of tho added worry when trying to decide what will do for A, for B, and so on up to the last letter of the shopping list, it is most trying to come alongside people who cannot make up their minds what they want—or whether they want anything at all from the special counter where they take up a place and the attention of one of the assistants. Tho question arises in the irritated mind of the one waiting, if it would not lie allowable and sensible of the assistant, to politely leave the uncertain one with a selection of goods to "haver over," and servo an obviously hurried customer, who has chosen some artici^ ready to purchase. Sometimes, and in some establishments, this is done, and many are inclined to patronise these on. account of the quicker service. But the orthodox thing appears to be to the attendant to concentrate on the "Tilly Slowboy" and wait on him, or hor, if they finally make up their minds to purchase, while the person with little time to spare goes somewhere else, hoping to find something else suitable, and less dilatory peoplo about. » ♦ » •

A friendly reader of this column is of opinion th&t there is a great call for workers among children at the beaches in the. Dominion. The parents of the prosent time who look for a day a week out in the open air, and take the children out all day on Sunday to _ one beach or other, do not give tho little oneß any chance of either church service or Sunday school. The joy of a good outing, the good, of the air and sun are undoubted, but there comes the question of religious teaching, and considering the joy of true faith, tho coaaplation of religious belief to millions of tho people now, and in the past, it seems hardly fair to deprive tho little ones, who are too young to know what they are missing, of the chance of a solid foundation of character. The idea is that if there wore moro of the Eev. Palgrave Davy's kind, earnest, interesting teachers, who would come out in tho open, and take the little ones, as Mr. Davy does, interest them for half an hour on the beach, tell them some of the fine old Bible utories, .and teach them some of the really beautiful hymns, a very fine work could he done, and the neglect of the parents would be partly remedied. It would bo a casfl of getting ono of the right kind to undertake tho work, and providing him with a car, in order to visit as many beaches as possible on fine Sundays, and then tho probability is that the little ones would look for him, and welcome him as a friend. Tho joy and earnestness of tho kindergarteners in their little services is so real and fine, that there is no room for doubt that such a movement would be a success.

It would bo rather interesting to find oat —or try to do so —how many people there aro in this, or any city, who can honestly say that they try always to keep to the left when walking in the streets. The impression is, if the observer looks from one ond or other of a street, that the people are a collection of "jay-walkers," and that they just go along anyhow. It seems the same when'walking along, when ono reckons on the number that are on the wrong side, with those who stop in the midst of the path to talk to one or moro friends. But thore are a lot of queer things that happen in every city when ono roads tho bylaws, and sees how many things are "Verboten." Jay-walking, unlimited noise from motor vehicles, dust-sweeping of shops, earn of tho people's food, the parking of cars on roads in tho city boundaries all night and overy iiiight— theso rules, and many more are certainly "more honoured in the broach Ihnn'thc observance" and tho ordinary person wonders why?