THE BISHOP'S LETTER.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 26, Issue 12, 1 December 1936, Page 1

THE BISHOP'S LETTER.

My Dear People,— Christmas is drawing near, and I wish to convey to you my greeting for that season and for the New Year. The thought which naturally comes to one's mind at this time is "Peace on Earth." But to use that phrase to-day sounds almost ironical. In

Spain we have a nation destroying itself with fraticidal war, while four powerful nations — having spent hundreds of millions of pounds m ringing themselves with steel and providing instruments of death and destruction — are ready at a moment's notice to mobilise vast armies to take part m an orgy of warfare. In the Far East we might hear of war blazing up at any moment. In America at the moment arms are silent; but a serious strike is threatening the prosperity of the community. Were the angels mistaken? we may be tempted to ask. Did our Saviour contemplate only inward peace when he said to the disciples, . "Peace I leave with you"? It is more than questionable whether there has ever been peace during the Christian era: and it looks as if there was some truth m the gibe that is sometimes thrown at the Church that she has herself frequently been the cause of war. Is this talk of peace merely an airy dream, outside the range of possibility? Was our Saviour coming down to hard facts when he said, "Not peace, but a sword"? I think not. The sword he referred to was a figurative sword, like the sword which pierced the soul of his Blessed Mother. No, He is the Prince of Peace — and the message of the angels was, and is, the message for the world. We need not labour the hatefulness of war. War is, and always was, brutal and brutalising. The talk we sometimes hear of war having lost its glamour is nonsense. The supposed glamour of war m the past is due only to distance obscuring the coarseness and brutality which was there just as it is m war to-day. The supposed advantages of war are an illusion. The claim sometimes made that, it brings but chivalry and other fine and manly qualities cannot be seriously sustained. Any of these desirable qualities can be cultivated as well m other and happier fields. War springs from envy and fear, and is m its prosecution an expression of hate: and as such must bein opposition to the will of God who is Love. Viewed from the economic standpoint war is (madness. Civilised

nations are spending untold millions m fabricating instruments of death, and manufacturing explosives which are to be destroyed m destroying life —the most consummate waste to bring about devastation and waste of human lives. And the irony of it lies m that this madness is rampant m the nations which pride themselves on their civilization. Concurrently with this the same nations are struggling against financial depression and the curse of unemployment which accompanies it. Arguments are advanced for and against the view that the present widespread unemployment is an outcome of the great war. Be that as it may, it does not require deep thought to realize that a small fraction of the wealth which is being squandered every year m preparation for war would suffice to establish an organization whereby the foodstuffs which are being produced m profusion could be made available for those who, now being workless, cannot obtain sufficient. But there is a widespread opinion that our economic troubles have arisen independently of the war, from the fact that our financial system is based upon wrong principles. It cannot be denied that this system does allow of the free play of business practices which enable the few to enrich themselves at the expense of the many. .And this pursuit of so-called wealth leads to class hatred and bitter international rivalry. Peace on earth seems still, alas! to. be m the far distance. May not the explanation be found m the conclusion of the , angels' announcement? The Revised Version gives this mesr sage as "Peace on earth among men m whom he is well pleased." The Greek is. literally "among men of goodwill" (a few manuscripts read "goodwill among men," as m the Authorized Version). This seems to suggest that the Peace of the world is longing for is delayed by the fact that we have not qualified ourselves to receive it. This peace cannot be imposed upon individuals from above; by; treaties, between nations— it must grow up from below from the individual to the nation.

Ajnd Christmas is an opportune season m which to make a beginning with ourselves. In order to be "men of goodwill" we must habituate ourselves to the abandonment of every unkind act the repression of every harsh word, the stifling of every bitter thought. So will we attain peace m ourselves— a peace which will spread to others. With all good wishes for this happy season, I am, ; Your friend and father m God, HERBERT WAIAPU,