The Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1933 CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 23 December 1933, Page 6

The Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1933 CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

ONE of the features of Christmas is that it brings members of a family and their friends together in happy union. The cares of business and the responsibilities and anxieties of life are forgotten for a season. For a short time an endeavour is made to forget the caies of life, and to remember its blessings. Ibis is not a selfish propensity. It is the duty of every normal and reasonable person to put his cares aside at least foi a short time, once a year, and to remember his happinesses. Christmas is an appropriate time for doing that. Good cheer, laughter, happy greetings, friendliness, a genial expansion of the mind, such characterise all who keep Christmas properly. That, then, is the note which should be struck at this time—joy, gladness, hopefulness. For a season it is the duty of everyone to forget, the worries and griefs of life, and to remember its blessings and joys. Of course there are those who, because of fortuitous circumstances, will find it hard to put their troubles behind them at this time, and it should he the aim of those who are more fortunate to see what they can do to bring gladness to their less lucky fellows. That can best be done by giving—by spontaneous acts of generosity, acts of concrete kindness, and the expression of kindly sentiments. It is one of the great features of Christmas that it is a time when gifts may be bestowed without their carrying with them any savour of patronage, and when they may be accepted without creating a sense of obligation in those who receive them. For there is a material side to Christmas which must not be overlooked. It is the time for transforming generous sentiments into actual facts 'by means of practical actions. It is not a time for sitting still and dreaming of things which might be done if circumstances were better: it is the time for seeing how most can be made of the means available. There will be many who, this Christinas, will find that with their limited resources it is hard to develop that measure of material happiness which is essential if the Season is to be celebrated suitably. It should be the pleasure of those who are in easy circumstances to apply part of their surplus means to supplying the needs of their less fortunate friends and neighbours. If that privilege is made use of everywhere and completely, there is no doubt that there will be diffusion of joy in many homos where otherwise Christmas would be anything but a bright and cheerful festival.

Although Christmas is a time of joy and happiness, of eating and drinking and merriment, it should not be all feasting and jollity. It has its serious side, which should not be ignored if it is to be observed properly. It is a feast kept in remembrance of the birth of the founder of the Christian religion, and necessarily its religious aspect demands attention : but it is to be noted that that aspect of Christmas is bright and gladsome and joyous in the extreme. Though Easter, Whitsuntide, and Mil the festivals of the Christian Church are times of joy, the festival of Christmas has a-joy peculiarly its own. The reason is not iar to seek. The birth of a child in a family- brings all of its members together in happy unison: in the same manner Christmas, the Greatest Birthday in tlie year, brings brightness and happiness to all the Christian nations of the world. For the national aspect of Christmas must be remembered. New Zealand has cause for rejoicing at this time, for she has reason to anticipate that her future will be brighter than has been her immediate past, since there is a distinct indication that the chief market for her commodities- I—'that 1 —'that is the Old Country—is steadily improving. It should not be long before some of the returning prosperity which is showing itself in Great Britain will bo evident in this country. Therefore to our readers and to the people of the City of Nelson am! of the Provincial District surrounding we would emphasise this hopeful aspect of the future, which should help them to enjoy A HAPPY' CHRISTMAS.