IN MEMORIAM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21990, 22 December 1934, Page 10 (Supplement)

IN MEMORIAM

A HERITAGE OF SUNSHINE TO CELEBRATE A BIRTHDAY

It is strange liow Christendom accepts the birthday of Christ as a public holiday from toil —as a festive season, ns a time of goodwill and joy—and at the same time gives no thought at all to the meaning of Christmas. To the Old World it is a time when hilly berries shine red against snow; when log fires roar in great fireplaces; when lmge parties are held, and there is much merry-making. In our world it means j the wash of tides against golden sands; J the cries of seabirds; pohutukawa trees crimson along the shore; but it is a time that has no possible connection with the old Christmas Morn when an anxious woman waited for her time to come, under a shining star. One likes to think back nineteen hundred and thirty-four years, to day 6 when men and women took life seriously. Life was very new to them, and angels spoke to them strange words of wisdom. One feels sure that the morn- ! ing when the little Jesus opened His | cVes on the world was full of stars, and j very clear and cold. r l here was an atI mosphere of expectation abroad, as j there is to this day in the very early morning; a feeling that some great secret is about to bo told. The shepherds who were abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks, felt the strangeness of it, and went into Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby in a stable, the Babv lying in a manger. They told Mary things the angels had told them of this small Child, and, mother-wise, she stored their words in her heart, pondering over them; wondering what mission was to be given Him. The Holy Mission Was He to be a groat king, to live in pomp with purple and gold? Or a great warrior, to lead his oppressed people into freedom P Mother-wise, she sat and watched His small, olive face, and dreamed over Him, perhaps fearing a little, and wishing that the more ordinary walks of life had been chosen for Him; yet still glad, and proud that He was spoken rf as Simoon spoke of him —" Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoplo; a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and a glory to thy people Israel." Joseph looked at Mary and Mary looked at Joseph, and they shook their heads. They wondered more than ever who this small Person really was, who had been given into their care. The Heart of a Mother And the Child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, the grace of God being upon Him, until one day the sword that Simeon spoke of pierced His mother's heart for the first, but not the last, time. He had stayed behind His father and mother in Jerusalem, and they sought Him, sorrowing. They found Him sitting unconcerned at the feet of the doctors of learning, asking questions and giving answers that amazed the men. His mother scolded Him, and He looked past her to the End of the Quest, saying the first hard thing recorded of- Him—"How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business? " And they understood Him not, and Mary, motherwise, was hurt in her heart; but He went with them, obediently. • The agonies she suffered, the fears she had for Him who was so gentle and yet so strong in purpose, the doubts she had about Him who could be apparently so hard arid so regardless of her wishes, history does not us. We are left to imagine them for ourselves. Nor are we ever told that she ever tried to dissuade Him from the way He elected to go; and yet there must have boon twilights when she sat at His feet and told Him of the dangers, the pitfalls, the terrors that lurked in His path; told Him of how she and Joseph had lied l.elore the fear and revenge of Herod, who killed all the men children of the country, that no king should arise to displace him. But He knew that He must be about His Father's business; that Ho must fulfil the law, and interpret His Father to men. Sunshine for Remembrance And so Fie lived—He whose birthdav is celebrated to-day by too much eating and drinking. He lived to lighten the blindness of men's eyes; to tear down existing beliefs that hid truth; to teach that the Father was in spirit and in truth, and had to be worshipped in spirit and in truth; to destroy bigotry and fear and ignorance, and |

'iitiniiMiiHKinHiiiiliiiiiliiliiiiiiiiiiiilliiiHiiiiHtiiiii! to replace them with love. Love your enemies, He said; go with a man a second mile; sell all you have and give it to the poor; forgive unto seventy times seven; love them that hate you and despitefully use you —because love is God, and because hate is a negation of truth.

This is the birthday we celebrate as wo boil pipis in benzine tins over driftwood fires through summer holidays. If Ho gave us nothing else that we can grasp' and put to practical use, if Ho left us nothing more from the burden ol His wisdom and His sorrow, at least we have these few weeks of sunshine in memory of Him. We might have had less to remember Him by.