Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, DEC, 23, 1944. THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 22, 23 December 1944, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, DEC, 23, 1944. THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

The sixth Christmas season in the shadow of the world's greatest aimed conflict is now being celebrated. There was, a iew months ago a hope, even though faint, that the war in Europe might have ended before the advent of Christmas. It has been shattered b3 r the grim clash of arms that rages along the German frontier, and with vou Rundstedt's offensive is carried back into Belgium and Luxemburg to envelop towns and villages the Allies freed at the cost of British and American lives; by the dogged resistance of the Germans in Northern Italy, and in the theatres where the Russian armies ai-e battling against the last determined resistance of an enemy whose days are numbered. The hope of victory iu 1944 in Europe has not fructified ; let all devoutly' trust that it will come quickly in the New Year, so that the tremendous task of restoring war shattered lands can be set in train and the Allied might turned against.the enemy of the Pacific to seal his doom the more quickly. At this time there will be thoughts for the New Zealand men and women in the theatres of war in which they serve, many a silent prayer that they will be protected through the dangers of war anil returned safely to their loved ones, and that theirs will be the full victory for which they have fought. The Christmas message is one of universal brotherhood and peace dissolving the barriers of class and colour, of nation and race. It was this profound truth that animated the British Empire in striving to attain harmony among the nations before Ibe world was plunged into war by Hitlerite Germany. Failure was writ large, but the message of Christmas burns brightly amid the carnage and destruction of war, bidding us to dedicate ourselves to the ideals of this season in the great tasks that will face us when the conflict shall have ended in victory for the Allied cause. Christmas brings a welcome pause in the workaday world, and it is right to share its festivities in war, for it is the season of genial fellowship and Christian charity: it is a time, 100, to remember how fortunate we have been in this war. A further adventure southwards must have brought the Japanese to these shores and we were illnrenared to resist an armada from Tokio. Happily spared that horror we can give thought to the less fortunate peoples—to those in Europe in bondage to the Nazis, to those now freed from their travail after years of darkness, and the people of Britain who are still in the fighting line as rocket bombs crash among iheir towns and cities bringing death and destruction. At this season denied as most of them will be of the little things that make Christmas bright, their sufferings awaken our genuine sympathy, in the Mlest spirit of Christmas, with its deep spiritual truths. A writer has well said that if Christianty had been followed in practice as in profession, the world would not be in its present condition. "What it needs now is not, a remedy but a re : demption" and Christmas brings that opportunity. The "Manawatu Standard" wishes its many readers A Merry Ctitustmas

AND A Prosperous New Year.