THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, December 24, 1938. IMMORTAL CHRISTMAS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 10

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, December 24, 1938. IMMORTAL CHRISTMAS

Of all the festivals of the Christian world that of Christmas is the most contagious. We may say it encircles the globe. The adventurer among Antarctic wastes makes it obeisance. Upon the ship at sea and in lonely outposts of Empire, as in sequestered villages and crowded cities, it garners homage. For it even war itself may slacken momentarily its inexorable stride, and upon the immortal edifice of Christmas Time but lays another wreath or two as the years roll on. In the meticulous chronicles of a famous city it is recorded that in A.D. 521 "that great monarch Arthur, with his Clergy, all his Nobility and Soldiers, kept Christmas in York, whither resorted to him the prime Persons of the Neighbourhood, and spent the latter end of December in Mirth, Jollity, Drinking. . . •" The historian has some severe things to say about the Saturnalia features of the occasion, but adds the interesting information: "Gifts are sent mutually from one to another, frequent in-

vitations pass between Friends, and domestick Offenders are not punished." Many an historic bridge has been crossed since then, but the aspect of Christmas that is associated with giving seems never to have seriously waned. True, there is more than a suggestion of a rediscovery of Christmas in the Nineteenth Century, but in the Christmas of to-day, as we know it in British communities, we see a valiant survival of ancient customs. It may be that amongst the many the deeper significance of the festival, that of the solemn celebration of the Nativity, is largely overshadowed. Trumpets, or their equivalent, proclaim beforehand the approach of what is called the festive season. Anticipation waves a magic wand, and preparation for celebration, reunion, and holiday is all agog. Postmasters-General, Ministers of Transport, and Traffic Superintendents feel their burdens of responsibility. The herald angels in earthly guise rehearse carols, and make shop windows radiant with merchandise, the choicest fruits of industry and the earth. The reactions of the average community to Christmas are traditional, burgeoning annually to the same general purpose. The zest of youth and the philosophy of age make partnership. "How the years crumble under us," says Lamb, and more and more comes that reflection unbidden to our feasts. It is a little difficult to be jolly to order. The Mark Tapleys are among the elect of mankind. But even a Scrooge converted into a sort of happinessdiffusing furnace is no mere literary miracle. To beat against the spirit of Christmas, as must the curmudgeon, is merely to beat the air. It is to attempt to defy what Mr Chesterton has called "that'truly exalted order of angels who are correctly called High Spirits." As a seasonal topic for writers and pictorial artists, revellers in the persiflage of gastronomic feats, Christmas is, of course, a boon. One of our modern essayists has thus expressed himself on the subject: " There is a cant of Christmas and a cant of anti-Christmas. There are some people who want to throw their arms round you simply because it is Christmas; there are other people who want to strangle you simply because it is Christmas. Thus between those who appreciate and those who depreciate Christmas, it is difficult for an ordinary man to escape bruises." Maybe that is so, though the depreciators are hopelessly outnumbered, but the instinct to make the day "a door into a new world of neighbourliness " is one that is most creditable to mankind. The pity is that its flowering is not perennial, that its conquests are not more deep-seated and enduring. Civilisation has been on the march for what we regard as a long time since the first Christmas Day. Sometimes it seems to wonder itself, and with reason enough, where it is getting. Modern civilisation has not escaped indictment as a denial of the Christmas spirit. That is a large subject. But so far as there is hope for civilisation, it must surely lie in the vindication of the message of peace and goodwill which is the best this troubled world has ever received. It is urged that what the world is most in need of is moral rearmament. Is it growing worse or better? Whenever that awkward question is asked the attempt to answer it must seem unsatisfactory. There is a case for and a case against. A commentator has suggested that the •wicked are now extraordinarily wicked, and the good extraordinarily good. As he puts the former in the majority the widening of the gap cannot be very helpful. That, it may be said, has nothing to do with Christmas. But the influence and spirit of Christmas are as banners of righteous causes. The policy of appeasement for which Great Britain stands in her relations with her neighbours is based on justice and goodwill. Goodwill on the part of the Governments, without exception, of the Great Powers is essential to world peace. Dictators who flaunt and take pride in the instruments of war are elements of discord. The totalitarian State has the characteristics of a machine. In its negation of liberty it is hard to think of it as a contributor to international confidence and harmony. But the call of Christmas is intimate and personal: therein lies the strength of its appeal to the better sentiments of humanity. It bids a truce to selfishness and uncharity, and an offering of the kindlier hand. To our readers, then, once again, the time-honoured salutation "A Merry Christmas! "