The Waikato Times MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1934. THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19458, 24 December 1934, Page 6

The Waikato Times MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1934. THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.

No festival possesses or can possess quite the same significance as attaches to Christmas Day. It is the one feast on the cabin at which finds Christendom united in common celebration. It bas survived the onslaught of the years, not without signs of xv eat but nevertheless with its spirit sanctified to a degree which even e most callous could hardly fail to admit.

To-day religion is recovering greatly from the blows which have been dealt to it by modern progress. The process of adaptation to new conditions found at first little room for religion in the reviser scheme of things, but in the inherent joy associated with the birthday of Christ there has been a lever which has prised away the foundations of unconcern and unbelief. Christmas without Christ is frankly unthinkable.

If that were not so there would be nothing to distinguish Christmas from any other public holiday. Yet it is something that we do distinguish Christmas with a greater show of sentiment than we attribute to any other occasion; that we accord.it a place apart in our hearts; and that we are "not altogether unmindful of Him m whose honour the festival is cherished. Twenty centuries of observance have made this Daj* something nobler and greater than our generation.,

“Peace on earth; goodwill towards men,” was the message the herald angels brought to the lowly village of Bethlehem on the dawn of that December morning nearly two thousand years ago. To-night, on the eve of Christmas, those words will form a prayer in almost every language, as the peoples of the earth implore their Creator to lighten their darkness. That spirit which inspired the combatants in the Great War to lay aside their enmity on Christmas Day cannot be entirely dead. The goodwill exists if the leaders of men can turn it to account to secure ppace.

• Among British peoples Christmas has been especially hallowed because it is the time when peace and goodwill are foremost in our thoughts. The age-old ceremonies, the giving of gifts, the spreading of good cheer, the unrestrained outburst of fellowship toxvards all and sup dry, have been actuated by a deep religious sentiment joined with an abiding sense of family unity. The faculty of fjeftnily preservation is at this season most easily led forward into broader fields.

The hearts of men of every nation desire peace to-day no less than they did in 1918. Circumstance alone has raised banders which appeared well-nigh insuperable, and to our statesmen who are the manipulators of circumstance we entrust the task of building the foundations of peace more lasting than we have yet enjoyed. The task is difficult but not impossible, if men will seek the help and guidance of, the God in Whom they profess to believe. May this Christmas be memorable for the inspiration which it can and will give to mankind.